Judge Orders DNA Test for Case Involving Murder Convict from Deerfield

A Deerfield man convicted of murdering a 69-year-old Highland Park resident in 1996 won the right to have the DNA under the victim's fingernails tested as a result of an order made by a Lake County judge Friday, the Highland Park News reports.

Louis Rozo, formerly of Deerfield, has been serving a 75 year prison sentence for murdering retired college professor Christy Shervanian, 69, on Dec. 1, 1996, according to the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reports Rozo, a former computer draftsman, tortured and strangled Shervanian in his Highland Park home because he was jealous of Shervanian's friendship with Rozo's lover. 

Rozo filed a motion in Lake County four years ago asking for a DNA sample to be taken from Shervanian's fingernails, according to the Highland Park News. Though the request was denied at the time, the decision was reversed earlier this year. Rozo hopes to prove another person committed the murder.

The newspaper reports it will likely take months for the testing to be completed.

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