DNA sample leads to man’s life sentence

A DNA sample obtained during a Houston man’s time in jail on a drug charge in 2011 led on Thursday to a life sentence for him in the murder of a young woman that had remained unsolved for more than a decade.

The body of Cherita Thurman, 22, was found in early September 2002 in the living room of her home at the Haverstock Hills Apartments in the 5600 block of Aldine Bender.

She was nude with her arms and legs bound behind her with sheets. Thurman had been beaten severely and died of asphyxia. There were no signs of forced entry, Harris County sheriff ’s deputies said at the time.

Convicted and sentenced to life behind bars Thursday for the murder was Craig Porter, 45.

He lived near Thurman’s apartment complex. Porter was in her apartment the night of her death, authorities said.