'Horrifying Violence': Man Charged With Murder Of Woman Once Tied To Gilgo Beach Killings: DA

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Florida man and 20-year Army veteran was arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the 1997 killing of Tanya Denise Jackson, known as "Peaches" — and long believed to have been a possible victim of the Gilgo Beach serial killer, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Andrew Dykes was arrested at his home on December 3; he was linked to the killing through DNA evidence, Donnelly said.

Jackson's remains were found in Hempstead Lake Park and along Ocean Parkway near the remains of her two-year-old daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes, the DA said.

Dykes, 66, of Ruskin, Florida, was arraigned before Judge Tammy Robbins on a grand jury indictment charge of second-degree murder, an A-I felony, Donnelly said.

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded; Dykes is due back in court on January 16, the DA said. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years to life in prison, Donnelly said.

"For more than two decades, there has been endless speculation about Tanya Jackson and her daughter Tatiana’s deaths. Today, we finally have answers. Tanya Jackson was not murdered by a serial killer, but allegedly by the man she loved, and the father of her child, Andrew Dykes," said Donnelly. "After advancements in DNA technology finally allowed us to recently identify ‘Peaches’ and ‘Baby Doe,’ superb detective work led us to the defendant and a DNA sample obtained from his abandoned drink cup that matched DNA found on Tanya’s remains. Now, a 30-year-old mystery can finally be solved. Tanya did not meet her end at the hands of a serial killer, but she was a victim of horrifying violence by a person she trusted. A person who will now face the full force of my office."

Donnelly said, on June 28, 1997, a local resident attending a fishing clinic discovered a container in a wooded area at Hempstead Lake State Park with a dismembered torso inside. Law enforcement officials would later identify the remains as belonging to “Jane Doe No. 3 or Peaches,” because of a distinctive tattoo of a peach on the woman’s chest, law enforcement officials said..

Nearly 14 years later, between April 4 and 11, 2011, law enforcement recovered toddler remains along Ocean Parkway in Gilgo Beach, and additional remains, arms and legs, determined to belong to “Peaches” on the westbound side of Ocean Parkway in the Zacks Bay Area. The two-year-old daughter was reportedly found wrapped in a blanket and wearing a gold bracelet and hoop earrings similar to the jewelry found with her mother

In April 2025, NCDA, the Nassau County Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the identification of “Peaches” and “Baby Doe” as army veteran Tanya Denise Jackson and her two-year-old daughter, Tatiana Marie Dykes, Donnelly said.

Dykes, is Tatiana’s biological father, the DA said.

According to the investigation, Andrew Dykes was a married father of two when he began a relationship with Tanya Jackson and fathered Tatiana, Donnelly said.

Dykes was a member of the United States Army from October 1980 to February 2001, the DA said.

Dykes and Tanya Jackson met during their military service at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, Donnelly said. Tatiana was later born in San Antonio on March 17, 1995, during their assignment, the DA said. Dykes was a military instructor who specialized in anatomy and physiology.

Military records and reviews of Dykes’ service discuss his excellence, specifically in skeletal systems, muscular systems, digestive systems and blood, Donnelly said.

Dykes was transferred to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn, NY, in 1995; according to the investigation, Tanya Jackson and her newborn daughter, Tatiana, joined him in Brooklyn shortly after, the DA said. Dykes, she said, was the leaseholder of her apartment in Brooklyn.

After the identifications of Tanya Jackson and Tatiana Dykes were made in 2023 using genetic genealogy, law enforcement developed several investigative leads pointing to Dykes as a person of interest in the murder, including obtaining Tatiana Dykes’ birth certificate, the DA said.

In October 2024, after conducting surveillance of Dykes near his home in Florida, investigators recovered a plastic drinking cup and straw Dykes purchased at a Charleys Cheesesteaks restaurant in Tampa, drank from, and discarded in the trash, and obtained an abandonment DNA sample, Donnelly said.

Dykes’ DNA extracted from the drink’s straw was tested and was included as a contributor to the samples of DNA recovered from Tanya Jackson’s remains, the DA said.

Dykes was arrested in Ruskin on December 3, 2025, by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and extradited to Nassau County to face the murder charge on December 18, the DA said.

"NCDA thanks the Nassau County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Hillsborough County Sheriff, the United States Army, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, and Tennessee Highway Patrol for their partnership and assistance in this investigation and prosecution," officials said.

Dykes was represented at arraignment by Joseph Lo Piccolo.

"Mr. Dykes is overwhelmed by the circumstances that he finds himself in," Lo Piccolo said.

He added that he'd just met his client Thursday and had not discussed anything substantive; Lo Piccolo said meetings will begin with Dykes on Friday.

"We anticipate a vigorous defense focused on the scientific evidence alleged to be possessed through DNA and other medical issues related to the deceased," Lo Piccolo said. "Other than that, this man has not been in any substantive trouble for nearly 30 years. He has a strong law enforcement background. He was surprised that these allegations have come forward — and that he was a target of these allegations."

When asked if the toddler's death was linked to Dykes, Lo Piccolo said that it was still an open investigation.

Jackson and her toddler had been considered to be possible Gilgo Beach victims, but officials said at the time that they were not discounting the possibility that the slayings may have been committed by someone else..

Decades after they died, their bodies were brought home to Alabama, where Tanya Jackson was born.
Jackson, officials said, was an Army veteran. In April, after the most horrific of endings, Jackson and her toddler daughter, who were brutally murdered, their remains left for years, were brought home to their loving family and laid to rest with dignity and full military honors by the Horton-Mathie Funeral Home in Greenport.

Speaking with Patch, Doug Mathie, owner of the funeral home, spoke about how the case had impacted him. "They touched my heart," he said. "It was a horrific way to lose your life — and not to be identified for all those years. . . ." Mathie said he felt compelled to help; he wanted to bring Jackson and her little girl back to her family, "for closure. I've been a funeral director for 45 years, and this case really moved me."

Rex Heuermann, charged in the deaths of seven Gilgo Beach victims, has not been charged in the deaths of Jackson or her daughter.

A total of 11 sets of remains were found in the Gilgo Beach slayings, which rocked Long Island. The remains included that of an Asian male.

In July 2023, Heuermann was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder charges and three counts of second-degree murder charges in the deaths of sex workers Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, and Amber Costello, whose remains were found along Ocean Parkway in 2010.

Heuermann was also charged with the murder of a fourth woman, Maureen Brainard-Barnes.

In June, 2024 Heuermann was slapped with new second-degree murder charges in the deaths of two additional women, Jessica Taylor and Sandra Costilla. In December, 2024 Heuermann was charged with the death of a seventh victim, Valerie Mack.

Karen Vergata, whose legs were first found by beachcombers — a doctor and his brother — in a bag along the shore of Davis Park on Fire Island in 1996, has also been thought to possibly be linked to the Gilgo Beach murders. Her skull was later found on Ocean Parkway in 2011, near the dismembered remains of Peaches.

Vergata, or Jane Doe #7, was identified in 2023 around the time of Heurmann's arrest.

He has not been charged in her death.

Heuermann is due back in court on January 13. In September, a judge ruled for the second timethat crucial DNA evidence could be used during his trial

With reporting by Peggy Spellman Hoey.