‘1.3 sextillion times more likely’: DNA links Abilene man to aggravated robbery, leading to arrest

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – An Abilene man has been arrested in connection to an aggravated robbery at an Abilene convenience store. According to court documents, DNA analysis of a facemask left at the scene indicated it was “1.3 sextillion times more likely” to have come from him.

On June 6, 2024, the Abilene Police Department received a report of an aggravated robbery at the Hop In convenience store on South 1st Street. According to court documents, a victim reported that a tall, skinny man rode up on a red bicycle, brandished a knife, and demanded the clerk open the register.

Documents state that when the clerk refused, the suspect allegedly tried to open the register himself but failed and fled the scene. As he left, the clerk saw him discard a black cloth mask and a box cutter in the roadway, which police later collected as evidence.

Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station was reviewed, and a clerk at that station allegedly told detectives he believed he had seen the same suspect the following day, June 7, and provided a photograph of a man wearing a black beanie, a black Adidas jacket, and other dark clothing.

Detectives later discovered that the black Adidas jacket had been seized in a separate case involving Samuel Andres Fernandez. Additional footage from June allegedly showed Fernandez riding the red bicycle and wearing clothing that matched the suspect’s description.

The mask and box cutter were sent to the DPS Crime Laboratory for DNA analysis. Court documents state, “The facemask showed to be 1.3 sextillion times more likely to have come from Fernandez than an unknown, unrelated individual,” while the box cutter DNA profile was “165 trillion times more likely to be Fernandez.”

In June 2024, Fernandez was also arrested following an escalated SWAT situation at a home in the Elmwood Area, less than a week after the Hop In convenience store incident. As part of that investigation, he pleaded guilty to the aggravated robbery of a Long John Silver’s, along with another prior offense, and was sentenced to eight years of probation in August.

On January 30, 2025, Samuel Andres Fernandez was arrested for aggravated robbery and remains held in the Taylor County Jail on a $50,000 bond.