Minneapolis police make arrest in woman's 1993 murder

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minneapolis police announced a huge break in a Minneapolis cold case dating back to 1993.

An Isanti County man is now behind bars, accused of killing 35-year-old Jeanne Childs in her Minneapolis apartment on June 13, 1993.

The mother of Jeanne Childs, Betty Eakman, is still in shock over the arrest. She was woken up in the middle of the night by Minnesota detectives calling her to let her know they never gave up in solving her daughter's murder.

On Tuesday, police made the bombshell announcement: an arrest was made using advanced DNA technology that connected a man to the crime scene.

“I can tell you that he is a former businessman up in Isanti County,” said Minneapolis police spokeperson John Elder. “I can tell you that he has been on law enforcement’s radar up there and they are familiar with him.”

Elder said there was no known relationship between the suspect and Childs.

"It was the only way I could have survived, was to know that someday maybe it would come and if it wasn’t going to happen, there was a reason for it,” Betty Eakman said.

But that day did come for her late Monday night when she got the phone call from police she had been waiting for.

“I just hope that anybody, any mother who has to go through this, they can find the killer because it’s very difficult for a parent to lose their child,” she said.

Eakman said her daughter began to go down the wrong path a few years after her husband was killed. Eakman was trying to raise three children without their father, and Jeanne started running away.

She said Jeanne deserves justice.

“My daughter was stabbed about 38 times and no matter what went on in her life…she was my daughter, and I loved her,” she said.

The suspect is being held in the Hennepin County Jail. Formal charges are expected Wednesday.