The Army veteran accused of murdering a young mother long known only as “Peaches,” slicing up her body and dumping it on Gilgo Beach pleaded not guilty Thursday at his arraignment.
Andrew Dykes, 66, was arrested earlier this month near his new home in Florida and charged with killing Tanya Denise Jackson back in 1997, when she was 26.
Parts of Jackson’s body were discovered on Gilgo Beach that year and more were found in 2011, but detectives were not able to identify her until 2024. Until then, she was known to investigators and the public simply as “Peaches” due to a tattoo of the fruit on her body.
Cops tracked Dykes down through DNA analysis, picking up his DNA from a plastic cup he discarded and matching it to genetic material found on Jackson’s body, prosecutors said Thursday.
Dykes and Jackson were in a romantic relationship, which began while they were both in the Army and stationed together in Texas, according to authorities. Jackson gave birth to his child and wanted to pursue a life with Dykes, but he was already married, investigators said.
“Tanya didn’t meet her end at the hands of a serial killer,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. “She was a victim of horrifying violence by a person she trusted.”
Donnelly was referencing the infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings, in which the bodies of several young women were found along the Nassau County beach. A Long Island architect, Rex Heuermann, has been charged with seven of the killings and pleaded not guilty.
But police have long said the beach could’ve been the dumping ground for more than one murderer. Prosecutors said Thursday that Dykes was an expert in anatomy and physiology from his time in the military, allowing him to dice up Jackson’s body with precision.
Jackson’s 2-year-old daughter, Tatiana Marie, whose father was listed as Dykes on her birth certificate, was also found dead on the beach. However, prosecutors said Thursday that they don’t yet have enough evidence to charge Dykes with her death.
With News Wire Services
