On Aug. 8, 1998, a 38-year-old woman was left on the side of a residential road off U.S. 278 outside Avondale Estates. Monica Faye Blackwell had been raped and killed, and the assailant was gone.

Now the man accused is in the DeKalb County jail. Samuel McCullum, 52, was connected to Blackwell’s death by DNA after his 2002 “unlawful imprisonment” of a 17-year-old girl in Kentucky, according to the DeKalb DA’s office.

McCullum was extradited to Georgia last week after completing his sentence in Kentucky. He faces charges of rape and murder in Blackwell’s death and is also awaiting trial in another local rape, the DA’s office said.

Warrants released this week to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution don’t specify how McCullum is accused of killing Blackwell. But the documents say he killed her and dumped her on the side of Porter Road at about 11 p.m.

The DA’s office declined to release further information on the case.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Bob Andres