Arrest made a year after 63-year-old ambushed, killed on walking trail, TX cops say
More than a year after a 63-year-old woman was ambushed and killed along a walking trail, a man has been charged, Texas officials say.
Stacey Dramiga loved to walk the nature trails in San Antonio, but when she left for Dafoste Park on the morning of Sept. 22, 2024, her family grew worried as the hours passed, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said at an Oct. 15 news briefing.
After 12 hours, they reported Dramiga missing and a search was launched, according to Salazar.
The next day, investigators borrowed an iPad from the family and, using the “Find my iPhone” feature, they found Dramiga, McClatchy News previously reported. She was dead and about 90 feet from the trail in the woods.
Further investigation revealed Dramiga had been sexually assaulted, then killed, “most likely” with a rock found nearby, and she was partially burned, according to Salazar.
“We believe this was a broad daylight attack,” Salazar said.
Police collected DNA evidence from Dramiga’s body, and from the rock, and determined it matched the same male, Salazar said. But the identity of that male was unknown.
Investigators searched CODIS, a national DNA database, but at first there were no matches in the system. Then on Oct. 13, police found a match: 23-year-old Samuel Aquim Charon, according to Salazar.
Charon’s DNA hadn’t been in the system at the start of the investigation, he said, but in April, Charon was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a charge of felony criminal mischief. Because of a state law that passed in 2023 requiring the collection of DNA samples from anyone booked on a felony charge, Charon’s DNA was entered into CODIS.
The finding “broke this case wide open,” Salazar said.
Deputies discovered Charon’s home is “very close” to the trail where Dramiga was killed, Salazar said, adding that Charon was taken into custody on Oct. 15.
“That man … is a monster, make no mistake about it,” he said at the news briefing.
Investigators believe Charon ambushed Dramiga, overpowered her and dragged her into the woods where he ultimately killed her.
He’s charged with capital murder and tampering with a human corpse, officials said.