Rivera v. State

317 Ga. 398

FINAL COPY S23A0429. RIVERA v. THE STATE. LAGRUA, Justice. On May 19, 1996, the body of Bridgett Parker was discovered near an abandoned mobile home in Ben Hill County. Parker’s throat had been cut, and she had been raped. Soon after, law enforcement officers identified Appellant Octavious Rivera as a possible suspect in the crimes against Parker, and over the next few weeks, they interviewed Rivera regarding Parker’s death, executed a search warrant for his car and residence, and obtained a sample of his DNA; however, they did not arrest Rivera at that time. In February 2018,…