On Monday, September 18, police arrested 69-year-old Fred Cain III for the February 21, 1987 murder of 6-year-old Jeremy Stoner in Vallejo, California.
Stoner was abducted from his family’s home, sexually assaulted, and killed. His remains were found several days later on Sherman Island in Sacramento County.
There is currently no information on who conducted the FIGG investigation, or how the final confirmation was made.
Cain was arrested at his home in Central Point, Oregon. He will face charges of kidnapping, murder, and sodomy in Solano County Superior Court.
Shawn Quincy Melton was charged and put on trial twice for this murder. He was acquitted each time by a hung jury, but the suspicion followed him for the rest of his life, and police would occasionally question him. He spent a total of 19 months in jail. Melton passed away in 2000 –long before he was posthumously exonerated through DNA testing. His mother, Janis Melton, told Noah Goldberg, “He wished that people knew and believed him when he said that he was innocent.”
Sources:
Ansures, Taylor. “Gold Hill Man Arrested for 1987 Murder of 6-Year-Old.” KOBI 5 News, September 22, 2023. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://kobi5.com/news/gold-hill-man-arrested-for-1987-murder-of-6-year-old-215146/.
Campbell, Tara. “New Arrest in Decades-Old Murder of 6-Year-Old Boy from Vallejo.” ABC 7 News, September 23, 2023. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://abc7news.com/jeremy-stoner-cold-case-fred-cain-iii-murder-suspect-arrest/13817976/.
Goldberg, Noah. “He Died as the Only Suspect in a Boy’s Murder. Decades Later, DNA Evidence Clears His Name.” LA Times, reprinted on msn.com, September 25, 2023. Accessed September 25, 2023. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/he-died-as-the-only-suspect-in-a-boy-s-murder-decades-later-dna-evidence-clears-his-name/ar-AA1hfdKN.