After 26 years, a suspect for the murder and rape of 14-year-old Nacole Smith, who was killed in Atlanta on June 7, 1995, has been named as Kelvin Denard Arnold. Additionally, Arnold is a suspect in the rape of 13-year-old Betty Brown in 2004. Nacole was attacked, raped, and shot in the face while taking a shortcut through a wooded area. Despite a detailed description of her assailant as provided by Betty, the case went cold until it was reopened in November 2018 by Detective Brett Zimbrick of the Atlanta Police Department.

After Detective Zimbrick’s retirement, the case was taken over by Detective Scott Demeester and Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love. The Atlanta Police Department partnered with Firebird Forensics Group who used Investigative Genetic Genealogy to identify Kelvin Denard Arnold as a suspect on October 5, 2021 and confirmed using DNA on December 28, 2021.. Kelvin Arnold died from liver failure on August 27, 2021, just a few weeks before he was identified as a potential suspect.

Participants of Firebird Forensics group who worked on the case include Barbara Rae-Venter, Lorrie Burns, and Janice Blackhurst.