Boyfriend charged in Houston woman's 2007 cold case murder, police say

HOUSTON -- Police in Houston say they've solved a young mother's murder almost 20 years later.

On Tuesday, Zachary Harper was charged in the 2007 murder of his then-girlfriend, Yosheka Jarmon, at their northeast Houston apartment.

Harper had already been in jail since April when he was charged with the 2023 murder of Armin Mirazimi.

Terance Jarmon said he discovered his sister's body in a closet after neighbors had called to report that her two young children were alone outside her apartment.

Police say Yosheka Jarmon had been strangled with an electrical cord and one of her arms had been slashed.

Investigators say witnesses had reported seeing a man fitting Harper's description near the crime scene, and Jarmon's car was later found close to where Harper had been staying in the days following the murder.

Jarmon's brother said Harper's behavior also made him suspect.

"He ain't come back home, and then the next day he ain't call to check up on the kids or nothing," he said.

But Jarmon said police still didn't have enough evidence to charge him with murder.

"Her fingerprints and his were mixed together, so it made it inconclusive," he said.

It was Harper's arrest in April on the 2023 murder charge that he says prompted detectives to take another look at his sister's case and complete additional evidence testing.

In the years after the 2007 murder, records show Harper racked up at least five criminal charges, including unlawful weapon possession, drug possession and a terroristic threat charge for threatening an ex-girlfriend.

Police say he had been violent towards Yosheka Jarmon leading up to the murder.

"I didn't find out this 'til after it was all over with," Terance Jarmon said. "He used to beat on her and stuff like that, but she never did - he didn't do nothing to the face."

Harper was denied bond and remains in the Harris County Jail.

His listed attorney didn't return a message seeking comment.