'Peaches' case: New DNA test ordered for Andrew Dykes, charged with killing a woman previously associated with the Gilgo Beach serial murder case

A Nassau County judge on Tuesday ordered a former Tennessee state trooper charged with killing and dismembering his former lover to submit DNA for prosecutors to compare with previous samples, according to court papers.

Andrew Dykes, 66, of Florida, pleaded not guilty last December under an indictment for the second-degree murder of Tonya Denise Jackson, whose 1997 death was once tied to the Gilgo Beach serial murders.

Dykes and Jackson had met in the military and had a 2-year-old girl, Tatiana Marie Dykes. The toddler's remains were also found near the remains of other women whose killings were eventually determined to have been committed by the Gilgo Beach serial killer, now known to be Rex A. Heuermann.

No one has been charged in Tatiana's killing, but the district attorney has said Dykes is the prime suspect in her death.

Jackson and the toddler were living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, according to prosecutors, when they disappeared. The district attorney said that Dykes, who also lived in Brooklyn, never reported them missing.

Jackson’s dismembered body was found in a Rubbermaid container emitting a foul odor by a man taking part in a fishing clinic at Hempstead Lake Park on June 28, 1997, authorities said. Forensic lab technicians recovered sperm from a vaginal swab during the autopsy, prosecutors said.

At the time, the remains had not been identified, so investigators called her “Peaches” based on the distinctive tattoo she had.

Tatiana’s body was found dumped off Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach in 2011. Investigators determined the two were mother and daughter because both wore similar pieces of jewelry and DNA testing in 2023 confirmed it, according to authorities.

A birth certificate in Texas reported Dykes to be the father of Tatiana and Nassau County investigators visited him in Florida in October 2024 to discuss the murders.

He denied being involved, but detectives were able to return from the visit with a discarded drink straw from which they extracted a DNA sample.

Comparing the DNA from the straw with the genetic material from the vaginal swab taken from Jackson, forensic technicians concluded that it was “12 million times” more probable that both samples came from Dykes than from someone else.

Now, prosecutors seek to take another DNA sample from a swab of Dykes cheek to further compare under a more controlled environment.

In court papers, defense attorney Joseph LoPiccolo opposed the additional sample, saying it violated his client’s constitutional right against an unreasonable search and seizure.

He said, “The mere presence of sperm does not establish that Mr. Dykes was involved in the death of Ms. Jackson. There are no other evidentiary factors, physical or scientific, which connect the presence of DNA from Mr. Dykes to the crime of Murder.”

LoPiccolo asked that if state Supreme Court Justice Tammy Robbins authorized the cheek swab, there shouild be two samples — one for the defense and one for the prosecution.

Dykes lawyer also asked the judge to limit local and federal law enforcement to use the new sample only for comparison in the Jackson murder case — not any other unsolved crimes.

On Tuesday, the judge signed an order based on the prosecutor’s request to have Nassau County police take a cheek swab from Dykes on May 15, his next court date.