Bombshell arrest in cold-case killing of California mom Helen Terry found stabbed next to an overflowing bathtub while her baby crawled on the floor nearby

A bombshell arrest has been made in the 1980 cold-case killing of a 27-year-old California mother 44 years after her brutal death.

Helen Terry had been stabbed 13 times and left for dead on the bathroom floor of her apartment complex in the Orangewood West Apartments in Sacramento - as her six-month-old son crawled through the bloody crime scene.

The suspect, Robert Lee Terry, now 81, was arrested last Friday and charged in Terry's murder.

He faces one count of felony murder and is being held without bail at the Sacramento County Main jail.

He is due back in court for a bail hearing on October 17.

John Mays, Helen's brother, shared what a 'loving, kind' person his sister was and said he was still in disbelief something so horrible could happen to his sibling.

'We had suspicions, but can't really do anything about suspicions. When it did come down to us, it was like a big relief — like something we've known all along, but could never prove it,' Mays told local ABC10 News.

Mays was in court when his sister's killer sat their stone-faced. 

'We've been wondering since day one, and this is the first little bit of hope that we've had since then and we are going to take it to the max,' he told local ABC News10.

Helen's adult son Eric, now 44, has not yet come forward after his mother's killer was finally caught after more than four decades.

Sacramento Police said the case was reopened in 2016 as part of a cold-case initiative. DNA that was taken from blood at the crime scene matched suspect Robert Terry, SF Gate reported.

Robert was charged after new information was uncovered that provided the necessary evidence to charge him with Helen's murder.,

It remains unclear if Helen and Robert Terry were married. 

Police said it is believed that Eric is the the biological child of Robert though he denied taking a paternity test. 

When the young mother was savagely killed August 28, 1980, she had filed a paternity suit against Robert and was asking for child support. 

Before the murder, a neighbor reported seeing a man pounding on Terry's apartment door. A loud ruckus followed, including sounds of 'shuffling and screams.' 

At the time, the neighbor who feared for her own safety said she had no phone of her own to call police, as per the news outlet.

Another resident complained of water leaking through the ceiling and when the manager entered the apartment, that is when he made the grisly discovery. 

Helen's gruesome death made headline news in the Sacramento Bee. The newspaper clipping shows a Sacramento police officer walking with a piece of the bathroom door removed from the apartment where Terry was killed. 

The racial slur that was written on the door was muzzed out in the news clipping.

Officials said there was blood stains throughout the apartment and furniture thrown about which indicated the victim had fought with her attacker.

There was also a racial slur written on the vanity mirror. A $2,500 reward was offered but the case eventually went cold after leads detectives were unable to find any tangible leads. 

The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office Cold Case, Science, and Technology Unit resumed the investigation, and collaborated with the Sacramento Police Department to reopen the case.

'The Sacramento Police Department remains committed to seeking justice for victims of violent crime, no matter how much time has passed,' they said in a statement.

'We would like to thank everyone involved in this ongoing investigation for their diligence and perseverance in solving this case.'