NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The recent discoveries in the Marcia Trimble case could remove a cloud of suspicion from the case’s original suspect.

Video: Former Trimble Suspect Reluctant To Speak

Channel 4 News was first to report that DNA evidence found at the scene of Trimble's 1975 slaying matches that of Jerome Barrett. Barrett was recently arrested and charged in the killing of Vanderbilt student Sarah Des Prez that same year.

The original suspect in the Trimble case was Jeffrey Womack.

On Aug, 28, 1979, four years after Trimble’s death, investigators said they were sure Womack was their man. Womack was Trimble’s neighbor.

“Investigators made no secret of the fact that this was their final attempt at solving the Trimble murder case,” said former Channel 4 reporter Alan Griggs in 1979.

Because police have not yet charged Barrett in Trimble’s death, Womack is the only person ever charged in her slaying. The charges were later dropped. He was 15 years old when it happened. He said his life was forever altered.

“He said it seemed like every time he turned around, there was a detective or Metro there, or somebody to do with the law,” said Womack’s friend, Chris Richards, at the time.

Even though the charges were dropped, the new DNA evidence could clear Womack for good. Though Womack declined an interview, his longtime attorney said it is a relief.

“I think he's always felt like he was still a suspect, and there's no doubt that he was, among certain police officers,” said Womack’s attorney John Hollins Sr.

Womack’s friends from the neighborhood said they remember it well.

“From all that time in his life, the idea that it was basically a shut and closed case if they could just find the one piece of evidence that would get Jeffrey,” said childhood friend David Lawrence.

Lawrence said he can't help but wonder what it's been like for Womack living his entire life under suspicion. He said he feels sorry for Womack.

“You think 32 years have gone by, and if today everything proves true that he's totally innocent, he still lost 32 years of his life,” he said.

Following Womack's arrest, Trimble's late father said in 1979 that he was hopeful the case may finally be solved.

More than 28 years later, investigators said they are hopeful that they can close the case this time.

Womack is still bitter in some ways over the way he was labeled by police and the media.

He said he's reluctant to speak out in part because he doesn't want to prematurely judge Barrett the same way some have judged him over the years.

Womack wasn't the only teen who lived as a suspect, but he was the only one who was ever charged.

Police have said that they have collected DNA samples from more than 100 teenagers who lived in Trimble's neighborhood at the time of her death.