Relatives expressed relief on Thursday after Columbus cold case detectives say solved a murder that happened 26 years ago.
Anna Maye Florence died after she was stabbed several times with a butcher knife in the 2300 block Delevan Drive on June 26, 1987.
Florence was 77-years-old.
10 Investigates first reported that detectives arrested Zina Roberson in Rome, Ga., on Thursday morning.
They plan to charge her with aggravated murder in connection with Florence's death.
A police source said that Roberson "broke out in a sweat" when she was arrested, but did not resist.
Detectives Kathy Justice and Ralph Taylor have recently given the case renewed attention. A source said new testing of evidence solved the decades-old case.
"Oh, I was happy," said nephew Larry Cook.
"You know, God is good," said niece Rebecca Robertson.
Robertson and Cook have held on to Florence's memory since her death. At the request of police, they recently distributed Crime Stoppers flyers about the case.
"Nobody has a right to take nobody's life," said Robertson.
News archives said that Florence had also suffered blunt force trauma to the head after the suspect allegedly beat her in the head with a telephone. According to a press release, robbery was the motive in the attack.
According to Central Ohio Crime Stoppers, at the time of the murder, the victim's sister and brother-in-law had gone to Florence's home to take her shopping. When they arrived, they heard the woman screaming, and a woman ran out of the home.
The brother-in-law tried grabbing the suspect, but was unable to because she was covered in blood and slipped away from his grasp, Crime Stoppers said.
Family members told 10 Investigates that they were eager for Roberson's extradition to Columbus.
"Her family, I feel for them. I truly feel for them," Cook said. "Because I know what we've gone through. The pain they're gonna have. You know it will never be over."
Florence was taken to an area hospital, where she died from the stab wounds.
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