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Suspect In 20-Year-Old Murder Arrested In Sex Assault Case

LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) - A suspect in a murder more than 20 years ago is now in jail.

John Ramsey Chinn is accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Chinn was in the news 20 years ago after a murder in Lakewood. He was a suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jakeob McKnight, whose body was found with stab wounds in a greenbelt in the Bear Creek area.

At the time Chinn was a person of interest but was never charged despite witnesses and friends saying Chinn and McKnight had been seen together the day of his disappearance.

Chinn's neighbors say he's been living with his parents in their Littleton home. When CBS4 knocked on the door of that home the residents declined to discuss the situation.

One mother said that she's kept a closer watch on her kids since she discovered Chinn was living nearby.

"There have just been rumors of possible child molestation, possible murder," a neighbor of Chinn's parents said. "It's a little disturbing."

Some neighbors of Chinn said they were too frightened to go on camera.

"I've never lived that close to a suspect in a cold case murder, and then you go back and you look at that little boy's face and it breaks your heart," one woman said.

Jakeob McKnight
Jakeob McKnight (credit: CBS)

According to the affidavit from Arapahoe County, Chinn is linked to illegal drugs and child pornography. Detectives said they found diaries in which Chinn allegedly talks about sleeping with young boys as well as photographs of naked young boys. They also found eight videos with possible evidence of sexual exploitation.

Chinn is being held on $50,000 bond at the Arapahoe County Jail.

McKnight's family has asked for privacy. His parents say they are still grief-stricken over the death of their son.

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