The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday upheld convictions against a man who remained undetected for years after he raped and strangled a 39-year-old woman.

In 2010, Michael Harvey was convicted of the 1994 murder of Valerie Payton, whose mutilated body was found in a vacant lot in southeast Atlanta. The Fulton County Cold Case Squad solved the crime through DNA evidence after swabs were sent to a private lab in Dallas, which developed a distinct male profile. This was sent to the GBI, which matched it to Harvey.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com