MIAMI -- DNA testing has led police to a man they say choked and stabbed an 80-year-old woman to death more than three years ago.

Severina Dolores Fernandez had lived in her Little Havana apartment for 37 years. She died of multiple stab wounds Dec. 9, 2000.

Detectives said that Fernandez put up a fight, and it caused her attacker to cut himself. Several blood samples believed to belong to the attacker were sent to a lab for DNA in hopes of finding a match, but at that time, none was found.

Police, following up on the Fernandez murder last year, reran a check for a possible DNA match. The sample matched that of 40-year-old Victor Guzman, who was arrested in Osceola County in 2001 for lewd and lascivious behavior on a child.

Wednesday, Guzman was charged with Fernandez's murder. He is a Peruvian national and was being held in Jacksonville for deportation at the time of his arrest.

Guzman reportedly denies having ever been in Fernandez's home and had no explanation for why his blood was in her apartment.

Guzman is charged with first-degree murder, and is being transported to Miami to face trial.