It took authorities more than two decades to link Reynaldo Rey to the death of Minnie Elkins but it took a jury of twelve just an hour to find him guilty of her murder Thursday afternoon.
The verdict--which sends Rey to life in prison--is the final chapter in a long and painful story in the death of a woman loved by many.
"She was one of the most kind, caring, thoughtful people that has ever walked this earth," Elkins' grandson, Brian Cox, said after the verdict was announced Thursday.
Elkins was found dead in her home off Avenue Q by her daughter--Cox's mother--in June 1989.
"When [my mother] walked in and found her it turned her life upside down for the rest of her life," Cox said.
His mother lived long enough to see Rey arrested in Elkins' death but died a year ago, leaving her son and the other grandchildren to make sure her mother's killer was brought to justice.
They did that this week as they sat in a Lubbock County courtroom listening to testimony and watching exhibits.
"I can tell you that our dreams over 23 years looked a lot like those pictures, so you imagination runs away with you," Gale French, another grandchild, said.
The verdict--which sends Rey to life in prison--is the final chapter in a long and painful story in the death of a woman loved by many.
"She was one of the most kind, caring, thoughtful people that has ever walked this earth," Elkins' grandson, Brian Cox, said after the verdict was announced Thursday.
Elkins was found dead in her home off Avenue Q by her daughter--Cox's mother--in June 1989.
"When [my mother] walked in and found her it turned her life upside down for the rest of her life," Cox said.
His mother lived long enough to see Rey arrested in Elkins' death but died a year ago, leaving her son and the other grandchildren to make sure her mother's killer was brought to justice.
They did that this week as they sat in a Lubbock County courtroom listening to testimony and watching exhibits.
"I can tell you that our dreams over 23 years looked a lot like those pictures, so you imagination runs away with you," Gale French, another grandchild, said.
