JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ohio -- More than two decades after Jill Howard was found stabbed to death in a Steubenville alley, trial began for a man accused of killing her.

Police arrested 53-year-old Michael Harris in July on charges of aggravated murder and murder in connection with the 1987 stabbing death of 20-year-old Howard. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Monday, during the first day of the trial, retired police officers who initially worked the case testified that Harris had been a suspect since the slaying.

Harris, who was Howard's boyfriend, was originally arrested 10 days after Howard’s death in 1987, but prosecutors at that time felt there was not enough evidence to go to trial.

Prosecutors have since said new DNA and physical evidence links Harris to the killing. They asked the jury to see Harris not as the 53-year-old man he is now, but as the 30-year-old he was at the time of the killing.

A taxi cab driver who discovered Howard's body on North Webster also testified Monday, saying he "didn't think it was a real body" at first.

"When I got to looking, I noticed that there was, you know, a little bit of blood," said Dave Duncan.

Family members of the victim said they have been waiting for this trial for 21 years.

"For 21 years we have asked and asked and asked. From the Oprah Show to NBC, my husband has sent things over the years to try and get someone to look into this case because it didn't need to be a cold case. It's ok now. We're here," said Howard’s sister Janis Russell.

Howard's siblings said they would be leaning on their stong faith during the trial.

"I’m just going to give thanks to God because he brings everything into the light. My trust and my faith is in God," said Howard’s brother James Howard.

"Everything comes in it's due time. There's a season for everything. It must have been that we had to endure this for 21 years to get to this day. It's not early and it's not late. It's here -- so it's alright with us and we'll endure this as well," said Russell.

Summit County Judge Ted Snyderman of Summit County is presiding over the case.

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