DNA evidence collected during the 1986 Shondra May murder investigation appears to be a match to jailed suspect, Ruben Weeks. Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee confirmed Friday afternoon that the DNA results “linked Ruben Weeks to Shondra May” but said he could not go into detail on what that evidence is until it is presented to the Grand Jury in November.
“When Shondra May’s body was discovered there was evidence that was preserved by the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office,” Lee said. “That evidence was taken and stored at the Mississippi Crime Lab that evening. In 2004 some of the evidence was taken to Scales Laboratory in Pearl by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations (MBI) for analysis. The evidence was preserved at Scales Lab.”
Lee said that beginning in 2020 the Scott County Sheriff’s Office working with the MBI started searching for labs that could test degraded DNA.
“We have tested many items since then,” he said. “Starting in October of 2022 we were able to find labs that specialized in finding degraded DNA from different exhibits. In January of 2025 Major Willie Anderson and I went to Scales Lab in search for more exhibits. George Schico who now owns Scales Lab turned over centrifuges with evidence that he had recovered. Those samples were mailed to Astera Forensics in Scotts Valley, CA. In June of this year we were notified that DNA had been found and linked Rubin Weeks to Shondra May.”
Weeks, the man accused of the 1986 kidnap, rape, and murder of May, also faces other charges. Booking records show Weeks is charged with “Rape – Strong Arm x4, Rape, Kidnapping, Capital Murder, Directing Felony to be Committed by a Minor, and Impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer.”
Weeks was arrested in April by Lee and his deputies. According to Lee, the MS Highway Patrol, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office all assisted with the arrest.
Weeks had been in prison for 30 years in Missouri, serving time for the kidnapping and rape of a Missouri woman. The evidence in that crime is similar to the May case. Weeks had pleaded guilty to those charges before his sentencing. Lee said that Weeks was released on probation from Missouri to the Mississippi Department of Corrections in December of 2022. The Mississippi charges were from Scott County for breaking and entering, and Bolivar County for two counts of uttering forgery.”
May was missing for 22 days before her body was found in a creek in Hinds County. It was estimated at that time that the 17-year-old had been dead five-to-10 days.
May was a senior at Leake Academy when she disappeared after leaving her job at McDonalds in Forest. May’s abandoned car was found about 75 yards from her home in the Pea Ridge Community. Her purse, car keys, and glasses were found in the car. The only thing missing from the vehicle was her driver’s license.
On the morning of February 26, 1986, on what would have been her 18th birthday, May’s nude and bound body was found floating face down in the six-to-ten feet deep muddy water by a fisherman. Her hands, feet and neck were tied together with tape.
Then State Medical Examiner Thomas Bennett ruled that the cause of death in the case “was inconclusive” but a second autopsy conducted by Hinds County Coroner Robert Martin and Jackson Pathologist Dr. Rodgrigo Galvez ruled the cause of death “strangulation.”
“It is an incredible story of how we got to this point,” Lee concluded, “but due to the final part being presented to the Grand Jury in November, I am unable to go into the whole story. We are now working with the District Attorneys Office to get this final part to the Grand Jury.”
Weeks remains behind bars at the Scott County Jail. He has been denied bond.
