The Murder of Alkia Rodgers

source: wcnc.com

Alkia Rodgers was found brutally murdered at the age of 18 on May 22nd, 2003. The teen girl left her family's Charlotte, North Carolina home the previous evening to meet up with the father of her infant son at Southside Park. Alkia never returned home, and her family later reported her missing. 

The following day, children playing on Southside Park's playground made a gruesome discovery at the top of the slide: the body of a teenage girl. That teenage girl was later identified as Alkia Rodgers. An autopsy later confirmed that Alkia's throat had been slit, and she had also been strangled. 

Southside Park is located just 1,000 feet away from Alkia's residence. She often took her infant son to the park to play. The park was also established as a meet-up spot between Alkia and her son's father, as he would often bring "diapers, food, and other things" to the park for Alkia to bring back home to their child. 

According to reports, Alkia planned to meet up with her son's father at the park that evening so he could give her diapers for their son. Due to this, her son's father immediately became a suspect after Alkia was found murdered at their meet-up spot. In 2019, cold case detective Ed Williams told reporters that Alkia's son's father was "questioned extensively, but nothing has ever been proven." Detective Williams maintained that he is still a suspect, but there are "lots of people" who are still suspects as well. 

However, DNA that was collected from the scene reportedly does not match Alkia's son's father. At this time, it does not appear that detectives have made a match of the DNA to any person who has been investigated for Alkia's murder. It also does not appear that the DNA matches anyone in their database. 

Despite this, investigators are confident that Alkia's murder was not random; that she likely knew her killer. Detective Williams specifically noted that the way in which Alkia was savagely killed indicates that her death was personal. He explained, "Usually when someone is strangled like that and cut in [the] throat, it's usually people that know each other."

Over two decades have passed, and Alkia's murder still remains unsolved. Both Alkia's family members and investigators hope that somebody with information about Alkia's murder will come forward. If you have any information that could help the investigation, please CMPD's Cold Case Unit at 704-336-2358. 

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Sources:
Charlotte-Mecklinburg Police Department
WCNC, (2)