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.