“It was coming up on the anniversary [of Parlante’s murder],’’ he said, “and I was thinking about it. ... I still have a sense of responsibility.’’

So he asked BSO’s crime lab to re-evaluate the evidence taken form the scene. While palm prints were collected in 1997, technology at the time did not allow them to be compared to other prints in a nationwide database.

In April, Ilarraza got the call that Hall’s palm prints matched those found on Parlante’s bedroom wall and on a receipt that had been dumped from her purse onto the apartment floor. Hall’s fingerprints also matched those taken from a small dresser drawer that had been emptied on a bed.

Ilarraza said he felt elated, especially when he shared the news with Parlante’s children.

“Homicides stay with you forever, especially the unsolved ones,’’ Ilarraza said. “You want justice for the family, for the victims.’’

Hall has a criminal history dating to 1982 and exclusively in Miami-Dade. He was known to prey on the elderly, Ilarraza said, noting that in 2000 Hall allegedly beat and robbed an 87-year-old man at his home in Miami-Dade.

Five days after Parlante’s murder, Hall was arrested in Miami-Dade for possession of cocaine.

But police don’t think he was acting alone the night of the murder. Lamberti urged anyone who knew Hall or his associates from 1997 to call Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.

Mark Parlante said the family would have a reunion later this month to commemorate their matriarch.

“To let everybody know that we got our justice,’’ he said. “My mom got her justice.’’