Suspect in Gilgo Beach ‘Peaches’ murder pleads not guilty

The Army veteran accused of killing a young mother long known as “Peaches,” cutting up her body and dumping it on Gilgo Beach, pleaded not guilty Thursday at his arraignment.

Andrew Dykes, 66, was arrested earlier this month near his new home in Florida and charged with the murder of Tanya Denise Jackson in 1997, when she was 26 years old.

Parts of Jackson’s body were discovered on Gilgo Beach that year and more were found in 2011, but detectives were not able to identify her until 2024. Until then, she was known to investigators and the public simply as “Peaches” due to a tattoo of the fruit on her body.

Cops found Dykes through DNA analysis, recovering his DNA from a plastic cup he had thrown away and matching it to genetic material found on Jackson’s body, prosecutors said Thursday.

Dykes and Jackson were in a romantic relationship, which began while they were both in the military and stationed together in Texas, according to authorities. Jackson gave birth to her child and wanted to live with Dykes, but he was already married, investigators said.

“Tanya did not meet her end at the hands of a serial killer,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “She was the victim of horrific violence at the hands of someone she trusted.”

Donnelly was referring to the infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings, in which the bodies of several young women were found along the Nassau County beach. A Long Island architect, Rex Heuermann, was charged with seven of the murders and pleaded not guilty.

But police have long said the beach could have been the dumping ground for more than one murderer. Prosecutors said Thursday that Dykes was an expert in anatomy and physiology from his time in the Army, which allowed him to cut up Jackson’s body with precision.

Jackson’s 2-year-old daughter Tatiana Marie, whose father was listed as Dykes on her birth certificate, was also found dead on the beach. However, prosecutors said Thursday they do not yet have enough evidence to charge Dykes in her death.

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