SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — More than three decades after the killing of a young Springfield mother, prosecutors say advances in DNA technology have identified the man responsible, bringing a long-unsolved murder case to a close.
Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni announced Wednesday that investigators have determined Joseph James Ceravolo Jr. was responsible for the 1995 murder of Celestina Perez. Ceravolo died of natural causes in 2013, meaning he can never be arrested or prosecuted.
Perez was 24-years-old and the mother of four young children when she was killed.
On June 2, 1995, two men walking through Gurdon Bill Park in Springfield’s Lower Liberty Heights neighborhood discovered Perez’s body in a ravine near Genesee and Warwick streets.
Authorities said Perez appeared to have been attacked near the top of the ravine and dragged down the slope. Blood was found on vegetation and soil, and buttons believed to have been torn from her blouse were recovered. One of her shoes was found nearby.
An autopsy determined Perez died from manual strangulation and suffered blunt-force trauma to her head. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Despite extensive investigation, detectives were unable to identify a suspect in the years following the killing.
Over the last two years, the Hampden District Attorney’s Office Unresolved and Unidentified Case Investigation Unit reopened the case, believing advances in forensic technology could provide new answers.
Investigators focused on preserved evidence collected from the crime scene and Perez’s clothing. Authorities believed the killer may have injured himself during the attack, making bloodstains found on the victim’s clothing especially significant.
Recent testing conducted by the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory developed a major male DNA profile from blood found on Perez’s underwear. The profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System and matched Ceravolo, who was 32 years old and living in Springfield at the time of the murder.
According to prosecutors, independent testing by DNA Labs International found the same major male DNA profile from a separate bloodstain on the clothing. Investigators said the statistical probability of a randomly selected, unrelated person matching the profile was approximately one in 130 million.
Ceravolo also could not be excluded as a contributor to DNA recovered from another bloodstain on the pocket of Perez’s jeans.
Investigators determined Ceravolo lived within walking distance of Gurdon Bill Park in 1995 and was not incarcerated or hospitalized when Perez was killed. The investigation also uncovered a history of assaultive behavior, including a violent domestic assault that resulted in his arrest and conviction weeks after Perez’s death.
“If Ceravolo were alive today, he would be charged with the murder of Ms. Celestina Perez,” Gulluni said.
While Ceravolo’s death prevents a criminal prosecution, Gulluni said investigators continued their work to ensure the findings were supported by independent forensic evidence before officially naming him as the killer.
“After 31 years, the murder of Celestina Perez is no longer unresolved,” Gulluni said.
Before the announcement, investigators met with Perez’s family to share the findings.
“Nothing we announce today can return Celestina to the children who grew up without their mother or erase the grief her family has carried for 31 years,” Gulluni said. “But there is now an answer. There is no longer any mystery.”
The DA’s office said the homicide investigation is now officially closed.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW