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DNA evidence leads to guilty verdict in 1985 killing of Jacksonville teen
A judge found David Nelson Austin guilty of killing Leslie McCray, a 17-year-old UNF student abducted from her Jacksonville home on Christmas Eve in 1985. Investigators revived the case decades later using DNA testing; Austin, who is serving two life sentences in Michigan for separate crimes, will be sentenced later.
A Florida judge found David Nelson Austin guilty Thursday of murdering and abducting Leslie McCray, a 17-year-old University of North Florida student whose rape and killing in Jacksonville remained unsolved for nearly four decades.
Judge Meredith Charbula convicted Austin, 65, of first-degree murder, two counts of armed kidnapping and armed sexual battery after a bench trial. Austin had waived a jury trial. Sentencing is scheduled for a later date. He is already serving two life sentences in Michigan for separate sexual battery crimes.
The case was reopened after investigators resubmitted evidence for DNA testing in 2020. The resulting profile matched Austin in a Michigan corrections database, and subsequent testing confirmed the match, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Chief T.K. Waters said when Austin was arrested in 2021.
Austin’s defense argued that his DNA could have been present because he had previously lived in the same duplex as McCray. His attorney also challenged the decades-long delay in investigating Austin, arguing it impaired his ability to defend himself. The defense called no witnesses, and Austin did not testify.
McCray was last seen at a bar near her home around 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve, 1985. Her roommate, then 20, testified that an intruder entered the duplex, tied him up and took McCray. He said he heard her plead with the man not to cut her. He managed to free himself and call police around 6 a.m.
McCray’s body was found about three hours later in a ditch off Old Middleburg Road, near a JEA substation. The investigation was suspended in 1986 without an arrest. Her roommate, who was considered a possible suspect for years, was later eliminated after his DNA did not match evidence from the case.
After the verdict, Joey Bray, McCray’s cousin and a spokesperson for the family, said the decision brought long-awaited justice. Bray said the holidays remain difficult for the family and credited Jacksonville nonprofit Project: Cold Case with helping bring renewed attention to the case.
McCray’s roommate also welcomed the verdict, saying he and the family had lived with the mystery for more than 40 years and were grateful the person responsible would be held accountable.
During the trial, Austin’s attorney cited the passage of time and the loss of potential evidence and witnesses in seeking dismissal. Prosecutors presented testimony from DNA, forensic, crime-scene and pathology experts. Austin had been identified as a person of interest in the original investigation, but records cited by the defense showed no documented follow-up with him until 2021.
McCray’s family remembered her as fun-loving and quick to make people laugh. She had hoped to become a model.