Atlanta police officers arrested Derreck Todd Lee, 34 of St. Francisville, La., Tuesday night, ending the 10-month search for the south Louisiana serial killer.
The Multi-Agency Homicide Task Force announced Monday DNA swabs collected from Lee in early May matched samples gathered from the body of Carrie Lynn Yoder. Yoder is the fifth of five women linked to by DNA to a single killer.
The task force notified Atlanta police Tuesday morning that Lee could have fled to the city. Coupled with a tip called in to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade said the Atlanta police had enough information to stake out an area.
“After surveilling the area for a period of time, Derreck Todd Lee was spotted crossing a parking lot at approximately 8:45 p.m.,” Englade said. “Lee was arrested without incident.”
Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington said Lee did not say much during the arrest. He was unarmed and presented a Louisiana ID with his real name.
“He knew that we were looking for him. Once his photo went on news media, he knew he was a wanted person” Pennington said. “If he was in Atlanta, we were gonna find him, based on information we received.”
Lee faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated rape. He will appear in an Atlanta court Wednesday morning for extradition proceedings.
At that time, Englade expects the federal unlawful flight to avoid prosecution warrant will be dismissed. This allows the state to prosecute him on the murder and aggravated rape charges rather than federal charges.
“I’m sure the citizens of Louisiana are proud as well that we’ve taken this very dangerous person off the street,” Pennington said. He hopes to get Lee back to Baton Rouge by Wednesday.