Preston Hughes was convicted in the September 1988 stabbing deaths of 15-year-old Shandra Charles and her three-year-old cousin Marcell Taylor.
The two children were found lying on a dirt path behind a Houston restaurant. Charles was still alive and told police that "Preston tried to rape me." Lab tests later revealed that the girl had been raped.
The girl's dying statement led police to an apartment complex at the end of the dirt path. Hughes was the only "Preston" living there and police found the girl's glasses in his apartment and evidence of blood on his clothing. Hughes gave two statements to the police before finally admitting to the murders of the two children.
