A New Jersey man has been arrested in connection with a deadly 2011 cold case stabbing in Camden, authorities announced Thursday.
Kenyar Hill, 46, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Brian Holden on Oct. 11, 2011, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office said in a Facebook post.
At the time, cops responded to an abandoned building in the Philadelphia suburb after reports of a deadly stabbing. Officers found 42-year-old Holden suffering from multiple stab wounds, and he was pronounced dead at a hospital less than an hour later.
Holden’s girlfriend told investigators that the killer paid to have sex with her, then took the money back after the intercourse, according to the prosecutor’s office. During an argument, she called for Holden’s help, after which the suspect stabbed Holden to death and then fled the scene.
The suspect’s DNA was obtained when the woman underwent a sexual assault forensic examination, prosecutors said. However, the DNA didn’t match any that investigators had on record at the time.
In 2021, Hill was arrested in a different case and charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault on law enforcement, Patch reported. The next year, Hill cut a plea deal in the case and copped to a lesser charge, but the deal included taking a DNA test.
In 2023, investigators obtained another DNA sample from Hill and eventually matched it to the DNA from the 2011 murder scene.
Hill was arrested by U.S. Marshals on June 27 and made his first court appearance on July 2, prosecutors said. He was ordered to remain behind bars at the Camden County Correctional Facility pending trial.
