GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A murdered woman's family says a slow system cost their loved one her life. <\/p>\n
DNA from a 2005 rape matched Christopher Wallace, but it took several weeks after initial confirmation for charges to be approved. During that time, a Muskegon-area mother of two was murdered in her home -- allegedly by Wallace. <\/p>\n
Kalamazoo police investigating the rape pointed the finger at the slow process of getting the DNA analyzed -- a process that took place at the Michigan State Police Crime Lab in Grand Rapids. <\/p>\n
MSP says its goal turnaround time on DNA evidence is 30 days. <\/p>\n
That would have been enough to lock up Wallace, 34, before the murder, but it didn't happen in this case -- and the reason why boils down to a tight budget. <\/p>\n
Police don't doubt now that Wallace should have been in prison for a 2005 rape, but they couldn't arrest him until it was too late for Jennifer Phillips. <\/p>\n
\"I believe that if they would have had him in prison where he should have been she would still be here,\" said Jennifer Phillips's sister Mary Phillips. <\/p>\n
Jennifer, 37, was strangled to death in her home on Oct. 21, 2011, police say. <\/p>\n
\"I don't think she gave up until she couldn't try anymore,\" said Mary. <\/p>\n
The holdup in the arrest, Kalamazoo police say, was in the confirmation process the DNA was going through to be checked for a match with the cold case rape. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\nDNA match goal missed, woman murdered<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"