It was a stunning break in an unsolved case that no one saw coming.
Thirteen-year-old Cynteria Phillips’ rape and murder back in 2000 stunned even hardened Miami cops, so much that since they found her unclothed body dumped on a back road near Edison High School, some of them have carried her photo vowing to catch the killer.
Now they believe they’ve done just that.
Forty-year-old Greg Martin, who did not know Cynteria, had been in jail for some time on charges of unrelated violent crimes. A shrewd Miami police detective convinced Martin to voluntarily give a DNA sample, and after months of waiting for the lab work, jackpot.
"First of all of, Cynteria Phillips meant the world to me. She didn't deserve to be beaten and killed like this." said a tearful Stacy Phillips, the girl’s mom, during a news conference at Miami Police headquarters Tuesday. "Right now, I am overwhelmed, and I'm hurting."
Phillips thanked detectives who she'd called two to three times every week hoping to one day hear what she heard Tuesday.
Martin's DNA matched, not one, but two DNA samples found on Cynteria's body; one from semen and one from skin under her fingers on her left hand.
"Until then,” said Miami police Sergeant Eunice Cooper, “he was not even on our radar. He did not even exist for us."
Martin was in court Wednesday, where he was ordered held without bail.
“We're going to find this person,” Sergeant Ervens Ford says they would say to themselves. “Let's be patient. We're going to find him. Today feels like a load has been taken off our shoulders. There nothing we can do to bring Cynteria back. But we can help bring closure to Stacy.”
Phillips is relieved there’s been an arrest. But she still blames herself, too. She says she became a crack addict with six kids which turned Cynteria into a habitual runaway from juvenile facilities and foster homes.
Phillips made a courageous admission of responsibility, indirectly, for Cynteria's death. "And I have plenty of regrets,” she said, “because if I hadn't of went down that road, the bad road, I believe that my daughter would be right here today. You know."
And then, Phillips used her guilt and her challenges to offer blunt advise to other young women.
“Do not use drugs. Drugs is not the answer, baby. Because once you go down that road, it's going to be problems all your life. And if you want to live a life of happiness and joy and peace, go down the right road," she said. "Follow God's steps and I guarantee you, you really live the life that you want to live. But once you use them drugs, it's over. It's over, until you say it's tired of being tired of being tired. And for those mothers who have kids, spend more time with them.”
Detectives, even hardened cops in a city known for abnormally vicious crimes, were so taken by the death of this little girl that they knew her birthday, thought of her at Christmas, and vowed to catch her killer.
"We were hurt by what this little girl went through during her short life,” said Sgt. Ford. “But we were really upset that someone would do this to a little girl and dump her body in a roadway. And I think that started the whole thing that we would never forget Cynteria and we would never stop searching for her killer."
"Throughout the years," said Sgt. Cooper, “we have stayed on top of it. We have followed leads beyond leads. This case has always been a big part of our lives and a major discussion in our office. So today there really are no words to describe how we feel today.”
And a grateful mom who's turned her life around admits it came too late. "I'm just hurting right now. I miss her so much. I really do,” said Stacy. "And I just hope justice [will] be done. And I will always love my daughter. Always."
Indeed, detectives believe there may be still more crimes linked to Martin and they want victims to come forward now.
