July 1984 -- The body of 9-year-old Dawn Hamilton is found in a wooded area near the Fontana Village apartments.
August 1984 -- Police arrest and charge Kirk Noble Bloodsworth, a burly former waterman from Cambridge.
March 1985 -- A jury convicts Bloodsworth of Dawn Hamilton's murder. Baltimore County Judge J. William Hinkel sentences Bloodsworth to death.
July 1986 -- The Maryland Court of Appeals, overturns Bloodsworth's conviction, saying prosecutors withheld evidence about another suspect.
April 1987 -- A second jury convicts Bloodsworth of murder. He is sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
April 1992 -- At the request of Bloodsworth's attorney, Baltimore County prosecutors agree to release evidence from Bloodsworth's trial -- panties, a shirt and a stick -- for sophisticated DNA testing.