DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — Lavone Hooper, linked to the death of Edith Moorehead through DNA evidence, was an old boyfriend of Moorehead whom she feared, a Montgomery County assistant prosecutor told the jury in Hooper's murder trial Tuesday, June 24.

While Hooper did have sex with Moorehead, he did not kill her, said defense attorney Anthony VanNoy.

"Though Edith was killed by someone, she was not raped," VanNoy said.

Hooper, 29, is on trial on murder, rape and kidnapping charges in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, with Judge Gregory Singer presiding.

Jury selection took place Monday. Opening statements were made Tuesday morning.

Moorehead, 20, was found Oct. 30, 1996, behind what was then Hickorydale Elementary School at 2101 Hickorydale Drive.

Assistant Montgomery County prosecutor Sarah Ramsey told the jury that a man running on a trail through the woods behind the school found her body and called police.

Moorehead who was found about 100 yards inside the woods, was facedown and covered with blood. She was wearing a night shirt and boxers, Ramsey said.

Moorehead, who was last seen Oct. 28 died from severe head trauma and a stab wound to the chest, Ramsey said.

As police were investigating, they received a missing persons call from Moorehead's family. Neighbors had found her 3-year-old daughter wandering around in front of her apartment, Ramsey said.

Investigators obtained semen from swabs from Moorehead's body. In 2006, Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory got hits on both samples, and both came back to Hooper, Ramsey said.

Police then questioned Hooper, who told them he did not have any contact with Moorehead for two years before her death, Ramsey said.

VanNoy said that it was possible Hooper and Moorehead had consentual sex for up to a week before her death. The two had an "on-again, off-again" relationship, VanNoy said.

However, the Montgomery County Coroner's Office found no signs of trauma stemming from having sex, a sign the semen was left as part of consensual sex, VanNoy said.

VanNoy pointed to another man, whom he identified as an abusive, violent and jealous boyfriend. At one point, VanNoy said, Moorehead took out a protection order against that man.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2057 or lgrieco@DaytonDailyNews.com