A Birmingham man has been charged in the brutal stabbing death of a woman in Georgia that happened at her home 24 years ago.

Clerence George, 63, is charged with murder in the 2000 slaying of Julie Ann McDonald.

McDonald, a 43-year-old pharmacist, was found slain on Sunday, June 11, 2000, at her home on Arnold Lane in Lafayette, Georgia.

Georgia’s Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said Friday that McDonald had been stabbed multiple times and likely had been dead for three or four days when her body was found.

There were several suspects at the time, he said, including George who knew McDonald and was found in possession of her checkbook.

However, there was not enough evidence to make any arrests.

Investigators took a fresh look at the case in about 2015 and submitted evidence for testing, but again there was not enough to file charges.

In 2023 and 2024, the case was reassigned and reopened, and this time technology was able to play a role in obtaining formal charges. Investigators said good old-fashioned police work – re-interviewing witnesses and knocking on doors – was also crucial to solving the case.

Both sheriff’s investigators and Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents jointly worked the investigation.

U.S. Marshals arrested George at his Birmingham home about 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. He is being held in the Jefferson County Jail awaiting extradition to Georgia on the charges of murder and aggravated assault.

George has a lengthy arrest record in Alabama, but not for violent crimes, court records show. .

He was 39 at the time of McDonald’s killing.

The sheriff said authorities are not yet releasing a suspected motive in McDonald’s death.

Wilson and GBI officials said they never give up on unsolved cases.

“I think it’s always a drive we have,’’ Wilson said in a Friday press conference.

Many of the victim’s relatives have since died, but authorities said they notified McDonald’s niece and nephew of the arrest.

“The biggest gratification I’ve seen in working these cold cases is giving the family some relief knowing (someone) has been found guilty in a court of law by their peers and that someone is held accountable for a death that was totally senseless.”

“There’s some sense of relief that the family can put it behind them and go,’’ Wilson said. “Not that it gives them great joy, but it’s the fact that they know a person has been held accountable.”