Dawnia Dacosta's kidnapping and murder by Lucious Boyd

This case hit especially close to home for me. Literally. I was born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, and I still work and live here. I've moved away over the years, but I've never been gone more than a few years. This is my home, so the people, places, and events struck a chord with me. Knowing that the sadist Lucious Boyd was finally convicted of one of his many crimes and taken off the streets for good gives me a sense of satisfaction. No longer would this malicious perpetrator take advantage of the good folks in my neighborhood.

The Dacostas and church

The Faith Tabernacle Church where the Dacostas worship is just over two miles from my childhood home. I'm also acquainted with the town of Deerfield Beach where they live, and the locations where Dawnia's car was located and her body was discovered are quite familiar. Everything from the Broward Sheriff's Office van to the street signs shown in the episode sparked recognition. Another Forensic Files episode located in my area is Journey to Justice (s05e17) which took place just south of where I grew up. It's fun when your hometown gets a shout-out, but ideally for something more positive. Thankfully in that case, Kenneth Pierce was identified and charged for the hit-and-run murder of six-year-old Nicole Rae Walker in 1993.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

This episode aired in 2009, though the events of the case occurred in 1998. A Sun Sentinel article covering Lucious Boyd's conviction indicated the Dacostas' church sported some 500 members. The episode indicated 1,000 – is it possible their number of parishioners doubled in seven years? The opening scenes of the episode showed a spirited celebration of the members' faith. I recall attending Presbyterian church in Mississippi in the summers during the 1980s, and I enjoyed the singing together as a congregation. But none of our worshiping matched the fervor shown in this episode.

Church with my grandmother was limited to Sundays, but the Dacostas were said to attend church three or four times per week. It reasons some of these trips were in the evening. Look closely at the flyer featuring the composite drawing of the man seen with Dawnia Dacosta at the Texaco station. It indicates the sighting was at 2 o'clock in the morning. I was not aware churches operated past midnight, or even late nights at all. But it was a Saturday evening, and it seems a wholesome way to spend time with trusted friends and stay out of trouble for a 21-year-old.

Lucious Boyd: Clever or lucky?

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Also seen at the Texaco station where Dawnia had walked was the conspicuous van the man was driving. Boyd lived just two blocks from the gas station, but apparently he wasn't aware his vehicle was memorable – thankfully it was. But the two steadfast witnesses who disagreed about something as fundamental as the van's color seemed to lead investigators down an alternate path. Outdoor lighting at night can play tricks on the perceived color of things like vehicles. Recall the episode Private Thoughts (s08e16) where it was likely Earl Bramblett's white truck was seen pulling away from the Hodges' home before the fire. The witness saw a red truck which led investigators to search in the wrong direction at first. Similarly, Bukata and Kaminsky strongly suspected the van they sought was burgundy. Thankfully when they came upon a teal van four months later, they were alert enough suspect it.

Lucious Boyd made additional oversights on the night he murdered Dawnia Dacosta. One would think he was more careful since there had never been enough evidence to convict him over the previous ten years. He'd been charged with violent offences from rape to murder seven times, but he was acquitted on each attempt. I rather think Lucious Boyd was lucky, and in late 1998, his luck ran out:

• He drove over Dawnia's body leaving a tread pattern that matched back to the van he drove.
• His DNA was with Dawnia's body – under her fingernail(s) and on her thigh.
• His girlfriend readily identified the sheets he used to wrap his victim's body.
• Fingerprints on the plastic bag found with Dawnia matched back to family member Boyd resided with.
• Brown carpet fibers from his bedroom were matched to fibers on Dawnia's body.
• He left his bite mark impression on Dawnia's skin.

I can't imagine Lucious Boyd was this careless in his other offences and still avoided conviction. I really can't imagine that he maintained a job at a daycare! Acquitted or not, wouldn't an employer think twice about allowing a person to work around children when he'd been so close to trouble so frequently? Boyd had been a suspect in no less than ten unsolved murders. If this doesn't raise an alarm, I'm not sure what would.

The woman in Boyd's life: Geneva Lewis

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

It was Boyd's live-in girlfriend (and mother to two of his children), Geneva Lewis who gave investigators some additional help. I'm not sure I could give you an inventory of my bed linens, but Lewis told police she was indeed missing a yellow sheet and a brown sheet – the very colors used to wrap Dawnia Dacosta's body. But I wonder if she'd been suspicious beforehand. First of all, Lucious Boyd was often near trouble even if he was never convicted. And it was four months after Dawnia's murder that Geneva Lewis was questioned. Did she initially not notice her missing bedsheets? Was it not released that the victim's body was wrapped in specifically brown and yellow bedsheets?

What about the large blood stain in the bedroom – large enough to soak through to the floor? It's unlikely Boyd murdered Dawnia while underneath the bed – it's far more likely that he moved the bed to cover the blood stain. But when Geneva Lewis returned home, didn't she question why the bed had been moved? And in four months she never encountered the large, fresh blood stain? It makes me wonder if Lewis did know that something foul had occurred, but only came forward when questioned by police.

Lucious Boyd's bite mark evidence

One comment about the bite mark evidence: I was satisfied with the significance described by Steven Rifkin, the forensic odontologist. He spoke in the non-absolute terminology in which bite mark evidence should be phrased. In some cases, I've seen far too much certainly ascribed to this type of evidence – regard the episode Once Bitten (s08e07) where Ray Krone spent ten years in prison on shoddy testimony from a forensic odontologist. When the real killer was finally identified by DNA, Krone was released, and thankfully he was awarded multiple seven-figure settlements.

I already asked my usual outstanding questions above, so instead I'll close with a sentiment. Twice in the episode, it was seen that Dawnia Dacosta's middle name was "Hope". This seemed relevant given that the witness identified the suspect's van as having the word "HOPE" on its side. This distinguishing characteristic helped investigators locate the van and ultimately Lucious Boyd. The Dacostas may believe it was divine intervention – what do you think?

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Where is Lucious Boyd now in 2024?

Sadly Lucious Boyd had come from a good family. Started by his father in 1971, the James C. Boyd Funeral Home has served Fort Lauderdale residents for decades. Boyd was arrested on March 26, 1999. After years of legal wrangling, Lucious Boyd was finally convicted of first degree murder, sexual battery, and armed kidnapping in the Dawnia Dacosta case. On June 21, 2002, Boyd was sentenced to death.

A subsequent appeal was filed citing 15 issues with the state’s case. On February 10, 2005, The Supreme Court of Florida upheld Lucious Boyd’s convictions and sentence. As of 2022, Boyd is still on death row. He is housed at the Union Correctional Institution in upstate Florida.