A man faces sentencing Tuesday in the December 2001 killing of an El Mirage man who was found dead in his home with a ligature around his neck, officials said.

Frank Gallas Mendoza of Fresno, Calif., is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 12 after his August conviction of first-degree murder in Maricopa County Superior Court, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

On Dec. 20, 2001, Richard Lucero was found dead in his El Mirage home with a ligature around his neck. The El Mirage Police Department asked the AZDPS Special Investigations Unit to conduct an investigation, and SIU investigators determined the manner of death was homicide, according to a DPS release.

“The case initially went cold after all leads and investigative techniques were exhausted at the time,” the release stated.

“However, with steady advances in DNA analysis, evidence was reanalyzed by the state crime lab in 2018 and tested using advanced DNA and latent print analysis techniques. Latent prints entered into a national database matched a record for Mendoza, who was previously unknown to investigators.”

The lab also examined a single source of DNA found on multiple items throughout Lucero’s home, including the ligature around Lucero’s neck, according to the release. Detectives obtained Mendoza’s DNA, and it was compared to DNA evidence collected from the crime scene.

The lab determined the DNA found at the scene belonged to Mendoza, according to DPS.

Mendoza was arrested in September 2018 for the premeditated first-degree murder of Lucero, the release stated.

Mendoza’s trial began on Aug. 11.

A unanimous verdict brought the case to a close, DPS officials said.