Man sentenced to 20 years over a ‘Texas Killing Fields’ case, decades after dozens of bodies found

James Dolphs Elmore Jr. has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the manslaughter of 16-year-old Laura Miller, according to prosecutors. The trial took place in Galveston County, Texas, following the conviction of Elmore, who was accused of preparing a cocaine dose that led to Miller's death. Miller's body was discovered in the infamous "Texas Killing Fields" in 1986, a stretch of land along Interstate 45 where dozens of women's bodies were found beginning in the 1970s.

The victims, including Miller, were aged between 16 and 22 years old. Elmore was charged with preparing a vial of cocaine that was administered to Miller by Clyde Hedrick, a longtime friend of Elmore's. Hedrick, who was convicted of manslaughter in 2014 for the death of Ellen Beason, took his own life in March before the grand jury presentation for the other murders.

Beason's body was found in 1985. Texas EquuSearch, a nonprofit founded by Laura Miller's father Tim Miller, was established after her death to help locate missing persons.