Greenville, South Carolina Police Department Brook Graham has been charged with Murder/Homicide by Child Abuse in the 1990 death of Baby Jane Doe, renamed "Julie Valentine." The case is one of South Carolina's most infamous cold cases.
DNA analysis and a genealogy website are credited with cracking the 29-year-old Baby Jane Doe “Julie Valentine” cold case that’s led to the arrest of Greenville, South Carolina resident Brook Graham, who is believed to be the infant’s mother. Chief of Police Ken Miller announced on April 4 that Graham, 53, was charged with Murder/Homicide by Child Abuse however no motive has been given.
Here’s what you need to know about Brook Graham and one of South Carolina’s most infamous cold cases.
1. The Baby’s Body Was Left at a Dumping Ground
Greenville, South Carolina Police DepartmentDumping ground where Baby Jane Doe/Julie Valentine’s body was discovered.
On February 13, 1990, the lifeless “Baby Jane Doe,” later named “Julie Valentine,” was spotted by a man picking wildflowers for his wife before Valentine’s Day. He found her in open field near Interstate 385 that had been commonly used by locals as an unofficial dumping ground. Graham’s home was less than a mile away from where the baby was found.
When detectives arrived at the field, they found a deceased female infant with an umbilical cord and placenta, who was approximately three days old. The baby had been placed inside a Sears Kenmore vacuum cleaner box along with an old newspaper, some bedding, and towels. The coroner established that she’d died after birth but he was unable to determine an exact cause of death.
2. Graham’s Common-Law Husband Was Questioned About the Baby
Box in which the body of Baby Jane Doe/Julie Valentine was discovered in 1990.
According to Greenville Police Department Public Affairs Manager Donald Porter, detectives reviewed local vacuum cleaner orders and discovered that the same model had recently been purchased by a man who claimed to be Graham’s common-law husband. The man’s identity has not been disclosed.
“He got on the radar because he purchased the vacuum around the same time Julie Valentine was found,” Porter explained. But investigators were unable to definitively tie Graham’s former husband to Baby Jane Doe’s death. “Police did not know was if Julie was placed in the box at the site or if the baby was already in the box and taken to the site,” he added.
3. The Same Man Helped Authorities Track Graham Down
The Julie Valentine cold case heated up when the investigators sent the baby’s DNA to Parabon NanoLabs in Fairfax, Virginia. “We had a break around 4 months ago when there was a hit on the genealogy site,” Porter said. The lab had been instrumental in solving the 1990 murder of Jenny Zitricki by serial killer Robert Brashers.
Scientists discovered Julie Valentine’s DNA matched a relative registered on GEDmatch genealogy website, bringing authorities back to the man who’d lived with Graham 29 years earlier. “Investigators talked to the biological father and he was able to identify the mother, Brook Graham,” Porter revealed, adding, “The biological father was the critical piece of this puzzle.”
The man told WSPA 7News that he and Graham separated in 1997 but had two daughters together during their relationship. No charges have been pressed against Graham’s former spouse, who maintains he was unaware she was pregnant. “There’s part of this related to her other children that is directly related to the case and our ability to establish probable cause and prosecute the case, so I won’t get into that at this point,” Chief of Police Ken Miller said during his April 4 press conference.
The father says Julie Valentine would have been their middle daughter.
4. The Greenville Police and Coroner Named her Julie Valentine
After working every possible lead on the case, Greenville Police decided to give “Baby Jane Doe” a name. Porter says investigators hoped “to create an identity for this child.”
The name “Julie” was selected by the coroner in honor of Juliana Christy, a victim advocate, and wife of now-retired Greenville Police Captain Terry Christy. Juliana had contacted hospitals across the southeast attempting to locate the baby’s parents. The last name “Valentine” was chosen because the baby had been found just before Valentine’s Day. “It’s tragic. I mean, I’ve got children of my own and seeing a cute little baby like that being discarded… with the trash,” Terry Christy told WSPA 7News.
Members of the department also arranged for Julie Valentine’s funeral and gravesite at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Greenville.
5. Julie Valentine’s Case Was Used to Campaign Against Child Abuse
Greenville police, along with local child advocates, teamed up to create a “Julie Valentine” campaign they hoped could be used nationally. After her death, child abuse vigils were held, a memorial sculpture was created, and a song “Julie Valentine” was written in her honor.
Greenville also has The Julie Valentine Center, a nonprofit organization that provides free confidential counseling to child abuse and sexual assault survivors. Formerly known as the Greenville Rape Crisis and Child Abuse Center, the organization says on its website they changed their name in 2011, to “take up (Julie Valentine’s) cause in her honor.”