For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Contact:
Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today congratulated the Raleigh Police Department on making two arrests last week in sexual assault cold cases.
“The victims of these terrible crimes deserve our best efforts to solve their cases and hold their offenders accountable,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I commend the Raleigh Police Department for their dogged work to eliminate the backlog of sexual assault kits and move these cold case investigations forward to make arrests. I also want to thank the State Crime Lab scientists for their work to test evidence in the pursuit of justice.”
“The Raleigh Police Department is grateful to the Department of Justice and Attorney General Josh Stein’s leadership in supporting the SAKI initiative,” said Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson. “This initiative allowed us to provide closure to sexual assault victims and bring to justice those who commit heinous crimes against members of our community. We look forward to continued successes through our strong partnership.”
RPD arrested Tracy Lamont Thompson related to cases in 1998, 2007, and 2009. He was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree rape, second-degree sexual offense, attempted second-degree rape, and assault by strangulation.
Separately, the police department also arrested Lontren Lawrence Walker for an alleged sexual assault in 1998. Walker was charged with first-degree rape, first-degree kidnapping, attempted murder, and assault by strangulation.
The arrests were made possible in part through the State Crime Lab’s evidence analysis through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. The analysis of these old kits helped lead to hits in the national CODIS DNA database. The Crime Lab has achieved more than 1,200 CODIS hits between July 1, 2023, and March 21, 2024. To date, the Lab has achieved more than 11,213 CODIS hits and aided more than 8,969 investigations.
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