DNA evidence has resulted in the arrest of Kelly Lee Brower, who is accused in the 1981 killing of Yolanda Herrera in Texas, according to details outlined in an arrest affidavit.
UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas — Investigators say DNA collected from a beer can helped lead authorities to a man they believe was responsible for a decades-old Texas murder, according to an arrest affidavit.
Kelly Lee Brower has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the death of 23-year-old Yolanda Herrera.
Authorities said Herrera was last seen on April 11, 1981, as she left Johnny’s Inn, a bar in Universal City, Texas. Investigators believe she was heading home during the early morning hours.
Two days later, two children walking to school found her nude body in a field. An autopsy determined her death was a homicide caused by multiple blunt force injuries. Universal City police said the evidence also indicated Herrera had been sexually assaulted before she was killed.
According to the arrest affidavit, DNA samples were collected, including fingernail clippings from the victim and a sperm sample. These were sent off for testing in the 2000s and came back with partial profiles, confirming they came from the same person. Several persons of interest and witnesses submitted their DNA but were ultimately cleared.
Authorities said in 2021, a male DNA profile was built and one sample that genealogical testing was done on revealed a name for Brower.
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Later in 2025, samples collected during the initial investigation were sent to a different laboratory with technology capable of testing smaller samples. The testing provided authorities with a DNA profile for an unidentified person, which was then searched against profiles in the FamilyTreeDNA database from individuals who had allowed law enforcement to use their information for forensic genetic genealogy. Those results pointed investigators to Brower.
Investigators discovered that Brower lived in Universal City at the time of the murder and now resided in Cottonwood, Arizona. They believed he moved to Seattle in early 1982 and lived in other places. Police said his only prior crime was a larceny charge.
According to the affidavit, officials traveled to Arizona, conducted surveillance, and obtained DNA samples from Brower, including a Coors Light can from his trash. In February 2026, investigators determined that DNA from Herrera’s fingernail clippings matched the male DNA profile from the beer can.
Investigators said Brower was interviewed by the Cottonwood Police Department on August 13 and initially denied knowing Herrera or anything about her murder. A second interview was conducted a couple of days later, and investigators said he confessed to the murder and said, “I’m sorry for what I did.”
A warrant was obtained for his arrest, and he was taken into custody with a charge of capital murder. Brower was extradited to Texas.
“This is a testament to the commitment that is involved that after 45 years, we have made an arrest in the murder of Yolanda Herrera,” Lieutenant Stephen Rios of the Universal City Police Department said in a press conference on August 25.
Investigators said that there is no evidence that Brower and Herrera knew each other prior to the murder.