MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis man was charged with aggravated rape more than 16 years after the offense was first reported.
Donald Yancey was arrested and charged Thursday.
According to police, a 30-year-old woman was at a club along Danny Thomas Boulevard in December 2004, when a man approached and forced her inside a vehicle using threats of violence. A second woman was also inside the vehicle at the time.
Once they arrived at a nearby motel, the victim was assaulted by the female suspect before being raped by the male. She was then assaulted and raped a second time, police said.
The victim was able to escape by telling the suspects she was having an asthma attack. When they opened the door for her to get some air, she bolted, running to a nearby home and calling 911.
The DNA from the victim’s rape kit came back to Yancey in May 2015. The female suspect has not been identified.
WREG Investigators uncovered the rape kit testing backlog in 2010. The city waited three years before it committed to testing the backlog of more than 12,000 kits. Those kits are still being processed.
As of mid-June, 741 cases were launched as a result of the testing, and 337 of those are named suspects. Investigators believe 51 of those suspects raped multiple victims.