Former Neighbor Accused Of Murdering Georgia Boy In 1988

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Arrest made 33 years after Georgia boy was beaten, strangled, found dead in woods

The Roswell, Georgia  Police Department has made an arrest in the 1988 murder of 8-year old Joshua Harmon. James Michael Coates, 56, of Woodstock, was taken into custody July 21st and booked into the Fulton County Jail on multiple charges including Murder. Roswell detectives arrested Coates after DNA evidence collected from the crime scene linked him to the murder.

On May 15th, 1988 Joshua was reported missing by his parents after not returning home for dinner. After extensive searches over the following 48 hours, Joshua’s body was discovered in a wooded area nearby to the Raintree Way apartment where he lived.

According to reports, the boy was beaten and strangled to death. His small body was “buried under loose dirt and pine straw, with logs placed on top of him to hide his remains,’ according to 11 Alive.

Roswell detectives, in partnership with the GBI, investigated the case extensively and collected valuable evidence, but the case went cold.

Investigators regularly revisited the case over the intervening years in pursuit of justice for Joshua and his family, and evidence was consistently re-examined to keep pace with evolving leads and advancing technology.

In February of 2021, with the permission of his family, Joshua’s body was exhumed in hopes of identifying further evidence. In March, the GA Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) taskforce, a subset of the GA Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), provided the Roswell Police Department with funding to pursue additional DNA testing on evidence from the crime scene.

Recently, investigators received the results of that testing performed by an independent laboratory, CyberGenetics Inc., which linked Coates to the crime. He was taken into custody without incident on a traffic stop the morning of July 21st.

The full list of Coates’ charges are as follows:
-Murder
-Felony Murder
-Aggravated Assault
-Aggravated Sodomy
-Aggravated Child Molestation
-Enticing a Child for Indecent Purposes
-False Imprisonment
-Cruelty to Children, 1st Degree
-Concealing the Death of Another
-Tampering with Evidence

“This was a tragedy that no family should endure”, said Roswell Police Chief James Conroy. “The death of Josh and the fact that his killer remained free for such a long time is unimaginable. I hope this arrest brings the Harmon family a sense of closure. The many officers, detectives, special agents, attorneys, scientists and retirees who worked this case never gave up hope in bringing Josh’s killer to justice. They are truly heroes, and I thank each one for their dedication and perseverance.”

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