DAYTON — A grand jury has indicted a man charged in connection with the 2003 killing of Arlene Hall in Dayton.
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Jesse James Lockley Jr., 70, has been charged with three counts of murder, according to court records.
Dayton Police officers and FBI agents arrested Lockley on Sept. 16, as previously reported.
He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail after making incriminating statements to detectives during an interview, and murder charges have been approved against him.
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Hall was last seen alive on March 19, 2003, and was reported missing by her son on April 3, 2003.
Detectives discovered her body on April 21, 2003, in the basement of a property at 2027 Germantown Street in Dayton.
Authorities determined her cause of death was homicide by strangulation.
Investigators followed several leads at the time, but no solid suspects were identified, and the case went cold.
The cold case received renewed attention in December 2025 when investigators reviewed the case file and submitted physical evidence for DNA testing.
On July 10, 2026, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation crime laboratory notified the Dayton Police Department that DNA belonging to an unknown male was discovered on Hall’s clothing.
In late July 2026, the state crime lab informed detectives that the DNA evidence matched Lockley.
Members of the department’s Homicide and Cold Case Units, working alongside FBI agents, located Lockley and brought him to the safety building for questioning.
James remains booked in the Montgomery County Jail.
His first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 29.
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