An arrest Tuesday, May 3, was made in a cold case stabbing death that occurred 26 years ago in a Santa Ana apartment, officials said.

Christopher Hervey, 22, was found stabbed to death on Jan. 4, 1996 in his 2205 N. Broadway Street apartment that he shared with his girlfriend, Jade Benning.

Benning, also 22 at the time, initially told police an intruder entered the apartment around 3 a.m. while they slept and the pair struggled with the assailant before he stabbed Hervey and fled, the Orange County Register reported at the time.

Hervey was found with multiple wounds to his chest and body, but a weapon was never located, the Register reported.

The case went cold and in 2001 Benning moved to Las Vegas and ultimately to Austin, Texas.

Jade Benning, an Austin, Texas woman, was arrested Tuesday, May 3, 2022, on charges of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in Santa Ana 26 years ago. (Courtesy of the Santa Ana Police Department)

In 2020, the Santa Ana Police Department received an anonymous letter that alleged Benning was involved in the homicide. A homicide cold case detective found enough evidence after following up on the case to obtain a criminal complaint from the Orange County District Attorney’s office and a warrant for Benning’s arrest, a news release from the department said.

The department had executed search warrants in Austin in June 2020.

She was arrested near her home in Austin by agents from the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force while SAPD detectives were present. Benning will be extradited back to Orange County.

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