MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A 24-year-old man is accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.
The victim’s mother told police she found Facebook messages between Reginald Brown and her daughter.
The two reportedly ended up meeting at an abandoned home in South Memphis on Edith.
Brown was charged with two counts of aggravated statutory rape.
“I heard about that, but I don’t know the full story about that,” said Darnae Wilkins.
She lives on Edith next door to the cluster of vacant homes.
“This house is boarded, and it’s like the rest of them are boarded except for the house on the very end,” she said pointing to all of the blight.
Other neighbors are convinced there would be less crime if the blight wasn’t there.
“The community needs to do something about it. This is horrible,” said Kailyn Williams.
Abandoned homes have caused problems in other neighborhoods too.
Police said a woman was held captive for eight hours in numerous vacant homes in midtown in June.
Two months before that, they said another woman was raped at gunpoint in an abandoned house in Riverview.
“I don’t think the city cares,” said WIlliams. “If they did care, they would have been gone.”
Mayor Jim Strickland campaigned on fighting blight.
Since taking office, there’s been a summit, walking tours and an agreement signed by different agencies to tackle the problem.
Neighbors said they’re tired of waiting.
The blight on Edith has gone on too long.
“Years! It’s been years,” said Williams.
They’re afraid what else could happen before something is done.
Brown is scheduled to be in court Thursday morning.