Two Days Before Trial, Crucial Evidence is Lost in Decade-Old Cold Case

John Pernell, a father and retired protective service officer, and his buddies were setting up for a Fourth of July cookout back in 2010 when a group of men jumped over the fence and threatened to rob them. Pernell was killed in the incident and just this year, authorities were about to drag his alleged shooter to trial. However, the evidence is gone.

Rather, the evidence is no longer good enough to use.

Pernell's family is just no speaking out now to explain why justice was delayed. The investigation into the 66-year-old's death went stagnant until 2019 when the cops say they received a tip on a potential suspect who fought with Pernell before the shooting: 34-year-old Kavon Young. Young was taken into custody and his DNA made a match to that found under Pernell's fingernails from the struggle, court documents say per NBC News. Everything for Pernell's family seemed to be moving forward. Despite unexplained delays to trial, Young was in custody and was set to face a jury in April.

Two days before Young was supposed to face the chopping block, prosecutors said they had some sudden "issues" with the evidence. The report says there was a "mismatch" in DNA which now - 15 years later - rules their calculations of reliability to be wrong. They previously said the likelihood of the sample belonging to someone else was one in 3.4 billion in the Black population of the U.S., per court documents.

Neither the prosecutors, defense or testing lab have offered a reason why the evidence is suddenly void or why the remaining testing samples have been lost.

“How can that happen? This is a situation of a murder case, and you have the expectation that evidence will be maintained, that the chain of evidence will be secure and maintained with the utmost protocols," said Ayana Pernell, the victim's daughter, via NBC Washington.

Pernell's family were told the case would then be dismissed. Young was then released from custody. It's unclear what next steps can be taken in the case at this moment. Though, Pernell's family isn't giving up the fight. So far, they have reached out to local lawmakers to provoke a new plan of action to figure out how to bring closure to the case, the report.

“Someone has to be held accountable, someone. The question is who," said Pernell's daughter.