Bexar County investigators arrested Samuel Charon, accusing him of the capital murder of Stacey Dramiga after linking him through DNA after a violent store incident.
SAN ANTONIO — For people who live in the Coliseum Willow Park area just south of the Frost Bank Center, tension was in the air for two days as investigators with the sheriff’s office worked to make an arrest in the high-profile murder case of Stacey Dramiga.
People noticed unmarked patrol units in alleys and a law enforcement helicopter overhead making wide circles.
Roger, who lives near the house targeted in the investigation, said that before they saw an arrest, they saw plenty of action.
“I saw the detectives carry out a whole bag of evidence and put it in their trunk,” Roger said. “I just thought, ‘Maybe they got in a fight or something.’ I didn’t know that was, you know, the suspect of the killing.”
On Wednesday afternoon, with the 500 block of Como Avenue blocked by marked and unmarked vehicles as well as K-9 trucks, BCSO investigators swooped in and arrested 23-year-old Samuel Charon, charging him with capital murder and abuse of a human corpse.
His home is about one-half mile from where Dramiga’s body was discovered Sept. 23, 2024.
An arrest affidavit details how Dramiga was killed by blunt force and penetrating trauma to the head, with investigators saying they recovered DNA evidence on the rock they believe the killer used to bludgeon her. The affidavit goes on to allege more DNA evidence was recovered from Dramiga’s body and that her body was also set on fire.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said investigators believe an assailant attacked Dramiga while she was walking on the Salado Creek hike and bike trail and that she was overpowered, dragged off the trail, sexually assaulted and killed.
Roger called the developments “mind-boggling,” saying Charon was well known in the area because he frequently walks around the neighborhood, and often to a nearby convenience store.
The breakthrough
More than a year after the murder, it was a violent incident at that store that led to Charon’s arrest.
Javier Salazar said DNA found at the Dramiga crime scene last year had been entered into a national crime database as soon as it was processed, but there were no matches.
Months ticked by without success.
Charon’s genetic markers simply weren’t in the system until he was arrested in April 2025 on a felony criminal mischief charge.
The San Antonio police report on that incident details how Charon was arrested after the manager of the nearby store ran across the street to the east patrol substation “in a state of distress requesting assistance from police, for an unknown male that was currently inside the store and actively destroying the property.”
The narrative goes on to describe food racks thrown on the ground, items scattered about the place and spilled drinks, and it alleges that Charon was taken into custody just outside the store when several witnesses provided his description.
Regular customers in the store remember the event well, saying the damage was so bad that the store was closed for a time for repair work.
Alayne Harris said she wasn’t present at the time, but the incident was the talk of the neighborhood.
Harris said the man “went through and wiped out shelves, bottles, broke bottles, chips, whatever was on the counter. He just went through the aisles and just destroyed the store.”
Salazar said a state law allows jail personnel to take DNA samples for anyone who is processed into the facility on a felony charge, and with a damage estimate of more than $30,000, an affidavit details how a sample was taken at the time.
Salazar said it took several months for the database to identify a match to Charon. Once the connection was made, investigators obtained a warrant to obtain a buccal swab from him Tuesday, which they did.
Salazar said personnel with the Bexar County Criminal Laboratory immediately went to work on a comparison between Charon and the evidence collected at the murder scene.
While they waited for results, the affidavit said Charon was presented with his Miranda Warnings, which he waived, and told investigators he denied having any involvement in the Dramiga murder. The document quotes him as stating multiple times, “That’s not possible,” when asked how his DNA was found on the victim.
One day later, investigators said the results of the forensic test allowed them to move forward with charges.
“This analysis provides very strong support for the proposition that ‘Samuel Aquim Charon’ is a contributor of the human DNA on this item” is the quote from the affidavit.
Salazar said that, with test results in hand, investigators returned to Charon’s home and arrested him without critical incident.
Harris, who lives nearby and regularly uses the trail where Dramiga was attacked, said the arrest “gives a better sense of security. We need to protect our trail and protect our people.”
Harris also expressed relief for the state law that allowed the sample to be collected.
“If it hadn’t been for that law change, and they’ve been able to collect his DNA, we might not have ever known who did it and that family would not have any closure.”
Dana Thomas said she lives two blocks away from the scene.
“It’s just really sad that people are just, I mean, a whole year he’s been living here… my heart goes out to the family,” Thomas said. “It’s a very sad situation, seriously, in my heart.”
Charon’s bonds total more than $1 million. If he were able to come up with resources to make bail, special conditions have been attached to his release, including full house arrest with GPS, drug and alcohol testing, and no possession of firearms.
The county’s justice portal said Charon is assigned to a “special needs unit,” but there is no information available about what that designation involves.
Online court records indicate Charon had a pre-indictment hearing set for mid-January, but that has been cancelled, and no new date has been set.