Rape victim recounts sexual assault and robbery

CHRIS ECHEGARAY • STAFF WRITER (Tennessean) • June 25, 2008 A woman was forced to perform oral sex on her attacker in her apartment while another robber took her boyfriend to an ATM machine to withdraw money, the woman testified in court this morning. Jonathan Lawrence, 21, and Rickey Carr, 26, are facing indictment stemming from the robbery and rape after a judge found probable cause at the preliminary hearing in general sessions court. It started when the men accosted Michael Ezekiel, who was alone, after a concert at 2:30 a.m. on June 16. Initially, they forced him to drive to a nearby ATM. Ezekiel couldn’t withdraw money, he testified, and they drove to the woman’s apartment on Hickory Highlands Drive. Ezekiel offered the woman's laptop in the robbery and the men took it, he said. But they wanted $400, Ezekiel testified. The woman gave Ezekiel her ATM card. Carr stayed with her while Lawrence went back out with Ezekiel, she testified. Fighting through tears, the woman testified that Carr made her kneel and pointed the gun at her, forcing her to perform oral sex. She would stop and he moved her to the kitchen and her bedroom, where he attempted to rape her. Meanwhile, Ezekiel struggled with Lawrence at a U.S. Bank ATM on Bell Road. Ezekiel was able to run from the robber and flag down a police cruiser.Police arrested both men. Carr is charged with two counts of aggravated rape, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery. Lawrence is charged with two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated robbery.

Davidson County crime log for June 5-8, 2008

These are the most serious calls handled by the Metro police, listed by time, crime reported and address. Some reports may be unfounded. Police calls are listed by police precinct or town. When police cannot immediately determine the location of a crime, the address given is that of the police station or hospital where the crime was reported. Antioch 3:50 p.m., holdup/robbery, 1300 block Bell Road Donelson 8:22 p.m., holdup/robbery, 2800 block Lebanon Pike Downtown 2:25 a.m., cutting/stabbing, 200 block Printers Alley 5:42 p.m., nonresidential burglary, 1200 block Division Street 9:32 p.m., holdup/robbery, 400 block Fourth Avenue North Priest Lake 3:03 a.m., residential burglary, 3200 block Country Lawn Drive South 3:08 a.m., residential burglary, 1000 block Harold Drive 10:42 a.m., nonresidential burglary, 1000 block Murfreesboro Pike 10:55 a.m., holdup/robbery, 1800 block Air Lane Drive 11:34 a.m., holdup/robbery, 400 block Fesslers Lane 5:44 p.m., holdup/robbery, 600 block Airpark Center Drive 6:08 p.m., holdup/robbery, 600 block Airpark Center Drive 11:08 p.m., holdup/robbery, 2100 block Portland Avenue Antioch 7:02 a.m., holdup/robbery, 5200 block Hickory Hollow Parkway Hermitage 2:31 a.m., holdup/robbery, 5900 block Old Hickory Boulevard 5:45 p.m., holdup/robbery, 4700 block Lebanon Pike South 8:20 a.m., residential burglary, 100 block Zermatt Avenue 12:27 p.m., residential burglary, 4100 block Murfreesboro Pike 11:35 p.m., shooting, 2700 block Glenrose Avenue Una 8:33 a.m., holdup/robbery, 2600 block Murfreesboro Pike 10:02 p.m., holdup/robbery, 2500 block Murfreesboro Pike Antioch 2:29 p.m., holdup/robbery, 2200 block Murfreesboro Pike Downtown 12:01 a.m., holdup/robbery, 700 block Church Street 3:07 p.m., rape, James Robertson Parkway Hermitage 6:39 a.m., residential burglary, 4000 block Bell Road 12:45 p.m., holdup/robbery, 5700 block Old Hickory Boulevard South 7:32 a.m., rape, Drummond Court 1:36 p.m., rape, Drummond Court 6:35 p.m., holdup/robbery, 1000 block Murfreesboro Pike 7:32 p.m., residential burglary, 100 block Plus Park Boulevard Una 4 p.m., residential burglary, 100 block Village Green Drive Antioch 6:09 p.m., residential burglary, 4800 block Jason Drive Donelson 10:23 p.m., holdup/robbery, 500 block Claridge Drive Downtown 4:28 a.m., holdup/robbery, 600 block Lafayette Street 6:56 p.m., residential burglary, 700 block Church Street Hermitage 12:48 p.m., residential burglary, Remington Park Road and Griffin Circle South 3:25 p.m., residential burglary, 1000 block Harold Drive 5:51 p.m., residential burglary, 13900 block Old Hickory Boulevard 8:51 p.m., holdup/robbery, 300 block Plus Park Boulevard

Metro likely to pay $485,000 to settle suit with rape victim

By MICHAEL CASS • Staff Writer (Tennessean) • May 13, 2008 Metro Nashville is expected to pay $485,000 to settle a lawsuit because its hospital didn't tell a rape victim about drugs that might have prevented her from contracting HIV, and its police department didn't immediately test the rapist for the virus. City attorneys have advised the Metro Council to approve the settlement next week. The assault victim would be paid $250,000; her husband would receive $235,000. The woman, who is now HIV-positive, was raped in 2004. Metro Law Director Sue Cain said police did not have a procedure in place to test the suspect for human immunodeficiency virus, which leads to AIDS, despite a state law requiring immediate testing of rape suspects. The suspect was not tested for several weeks. At the same time, a nurse at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry failed to tell the victim that antiretroviral drugs could have prevented her from contracting HIV. "We think the likelihood is that the courts would find that the protocol being used (at the hospital) did not meet the standard of care and that a policy to have criminal defendants tested should have been in place," Metro Law Director Sue Cain told The Tennessean on Monday. The newspaper does not identify victims of rape or sexual assault. Cain said the 1994 law requiring immediate testing of rape suspects does not say who's responsible for the tests, but it can be inferred that police are. Metro police now take suspects to Nashville General for testing, though it's rare to catch them so soon after the crime. The hospital, which since the early 1990s has offered antiretroviral drugs to employees who work with HIV patients, now requires anyone examining a sexual assault victim to explain what the drugs can do, Cain said. Liability laws would have limited the woman and her husband, who sued the city in Davidson County Circuit Court, to awards of $250,000 each. The husband claimed he had lost the chance to have sexual relations with his wife and has had to take on much more responsibility at home..