Overview
- Police charged four Covington men with aggravated rape and second-degree murder after Tuesday's coordinated operations that followed a multi-year re-investigation.
- Sharp, 16, was found raped and murdered on February 12, 1982, in woods near the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds in Covington.
- The case advanced Tuesday when police arrested Billy Williams Jr. in Covington and jailed Darrell Dean Spell in Dayton pending extradition, with detectives contacting already-imprisoned Perry Wayne Taylor and Carlos Cooper on Wednesday.
- State Police reopened the file in 2023, resubmitted evidence for DNA testing, and in 2025 partnered with local host Charles Dowdy on the 'Who Killed Roxanne Sharp?' podcast that drew new witnesses and tips.
- Officials credited the podcast for helping map Sharp’s final days as LSP Troop L, LSP SWAT, Covington Police, and Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation executed searches and arrests, and the district attorney said a grand jury review is expected in the coming weeks.