Jose Antonio Jimenez charged with 2014 murder of Labh Nigah at Sierra Linda Park

OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) – On Wednesday, Jose Antonio Jimenez of Oxnard was officially charged with the 2014 murder of Labh Nigah after later DNA analysis connected him to the fatal stabbing.

Jimenez is also facing three special allegations he learned Wednesday during his arraignment, that he personally used a knife to commit the offense, that the killing involved great violence, and that the victim was particularly vulnerable stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in a press release Thursday.

The 32-year-old entered a plea of not guilty to all charged counts during the proceedings noted the local prosecutor's office.

On Nov. 13, 2014, around 8:43 a.m., Oxnard Police Department officers were called to a reported battery in Sierra Linda Park and arriving officers found 55-year-old Labh Nigah with multuple stab wounds along a walking path near Indigo Place shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Despite lifesaving attempts by first responders, the local convenience store clerk was declared dead at the scene and his killing was eventually ruled a homicide shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Detectives learned that Nigah had just dropped his son off at nearby Sierra Linda Elementary before being attacked in the public park and students, staff, and people in the area witnessed the killing shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Authorities believe that attack was random added the local prosecutor's office.

The case remained unsolved for eleven years and DNA evidence collected at the scene during the investigation was uploaded to the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) but no matches were identified at the time noted the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Investigators with the Sheriff's Cold Case Unit, the District Attorney's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation applied advances in DNA technology to develop new leads and identify Jimenez as the suspect shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

On April 2 of this year, a search warrant was served at a home in Oxnard and Jimenez was taken into custody in connection stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Jimenez is next due in court for an early disposition conference on Aug. 13 of this year and he remains in custody with bail set at $1 million shared the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.