Charlottesville City Police announced yesterday they filed charges of rape and armed robbery against Montaret D. Davis of Norfolk for the Aug. 26 assault of two University students.
The attack occurred in the Venable area between 15th Street NW and Rugby Road, off of Grady Avenue, shortly after 4 a.m. The perpetrator entered the female victim's home and raped her while holding her male friend at gunpoint, police said.
Police arrested the suspect after a Richmond DNA database matched his DNA signature with samples taken from the victim's bed sheets and from saliva left on a beer can in the victim's home, Charlottesville City Police Sgt. Don Cambell said.
The charges against Davis effectively ended both the Charlottesville and University Police departments' month-long search for the perpetrator, police said.
"The case is cleared by arrest and now we're just trying to tie up loose ends," Cambell said. "We've got our man - the case is closed."
According to police, Davis entered the victim's home and woke up the two victims at gunpoint. He then allegedly blindfolded the female and ordered the male, a friend who was spending the night after a party, not to look at him.
After the rape, Davis reportedly forced the female to take a shower and stole money from both victims' wallets.
Later, he allegedly directed the victims into the kitchen, where he tried to comfort the female as he drank the beer, police said.
Cambell said Davis fits the victims' initial description of the perpetrator as a black male in his mid-20s, heavyset and between 5-foot-8 and 6-feet tall.
Davis "is the man," he said. Davis "matches the description, height, weight, everything, and DNA basically corroborates."
Additional charges against Davis include sodomy, attempted robbery, entering a dwelling at night and the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Cambell said Davis could face up to life imprisonment depending on his prior convictions and how a jury decides his case.
Davis was charged at the Albemarle Joint Security Complex, where he has been detained for the last 41 days on a sentence for driving with a suspended/revoked license. Davis turned himself in for the six-month sentence just 14 hours after the rape occurred.
Cambell said there was no reason to believe the victim and suspect previously knew each other.
"There was no relationship whatsoever," he said. "He was just a stranger who broke into the house that night and raped the victim."
Davis' DNA signature originally was obtained after he was convicted of malicious wounding in South Hampton three years ago.
However, due to a backlog of DNA signatures, Davis' DNA was not entered into the state database and not compared to crime scene evidence until yesterday.
Cambell said the suspect's arrest was largely a result of luck and scientific efforts.
"We've just got to be thankful for modern technology because that's what did it for us," he said.
The state lab "is constantly adding signatures into the database," Cambell said. "When they put [Davis' signature] in they got a hit."
Inter-Fraternity Council President Wes Kaupinen said safety concerns at the University were well-handled thanks to broad participation.
"The fact that the [alleged] culprit was caught was the result of a tremendous effort from the police, the University, the students and the community at large," Kaupinen said.
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