DNA DATABANK LEADS TO THE ARREST OF A SECOND SUSPECT IN A 15-YEAR-OLD RAPE CASE
Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today the arrest and indictment of a 33-year-old Bronx man for the alleged forcible rape and robbery of a woman in December, 1993.
Rodney Howard, of 2955 White Plains Road, has been charged with 3 counts of Rape in the 1st degree, 2 counts of Sexual Abuse in the 1st degree and 1 count of Robbery in the 1st degree.
Howard is accused of “acting-in-concert” with Brian Brockington who was arrested in 2007. Brockington, of 159-44 Harlem River Drive, Manhattan, is still awaiting trial and is being held without bail. Brockington, Howard’s younger cousin, was 16 years old in 1993. Both defendants are facing maximum consecutive sentences of up to 25 years imprisonment on each count if convicted of the top counts of first degree rape and first degree robbery.
The crimes occurred on December 5, 1993 when the victim, who was 28-years-old, alleged that she was assaulted, robbed and raped at gunpoint, as she walking near her boyfriend’s house in the vicinity of Burke Avenue in the Bronxwood section. The victim was examined and treated at Jacobi Hospital where DNA samples from two of her three attackers were collected and later entered into a state database. Although the identities of the alleged attackers remained unknown until 2007, an indictment obtained in 2003 charged two defendants named “John Doe” based on the DNA profiles that had been developed.
Brockington, 32, was the first to be identified based on a DNA sample that was obtained in connection with an incident that occurred in 1997. The sample obtained in 2007 was a match for the DNA obtained in the 1993 case as well as a match for another rape involving a third victim in 2003.
Howard, who was 18-years-old at the time, was not linked to the 1993 attack until earlier this month when a sample of his DNA was sent to the New York State DNA database following his conviction on a misdemeanor assault charge in Manhattan. Howard was arraigned this afternoon before State Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy who ordered that the defendant be held without bail. Both Howard and Brockington are next scheduled to appear before State Supreme Court Justice John Moore in Part M 70 on October 14, 2009.
These charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jill Starishevsky of the Child Abuse / Sex Crimes Bureau.
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