In January 1986, a 19-year-old woman was attacked as she got into her car after her shift at a Cherokee County convenience store. Then, she was taken from the store to another location and raped, according to investigators.
The woman alerted police and a sexual assault kit was collected. But the case remained cold until this week.
On Monday, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office arrested 76-year-old Thomas Lamar Keith of Atlanta on charges of rape and kidnapping. He is now in the Cherokee jail and is under investigation for a second sexual assault that happened in 1986, the sheriff’s office said.
“I never thought this day would ever come,” the victim, who asked not to be identified, said in an emailed statement. “I want to thank the Cherokee sheriff’s office and the detectives who worked this case. Thank you for never giving up. You all have restored my faith in the justice system.”
According to investigators, DNA technology was still developing at the time the young woman was assaulted. Even though an assault kit was collected, it is possible it was not tested until much later.
A 2015 Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found more than 1,400 kits went untested at Grady Memorial, even though victims wanted them transferred to law enforcement. Police failed to pick them up, and the hospital kept them on the mistaken belief that federal regulations barred their release.
In 2016, the Georgia Legislature passed a law requiring all Georgia law enforcement agencies to send stored rape kits to the GBI headquarters for testing. In 2021, a law was passed that allowed victims of sexual assaults to keep track of evidence in their cases from collection to prosecution.
In the Cherokee case, the GBI Crime Lab entered DNA evidence into a national database. Finally, there was a match identifying Keith, according to the sheriff’s office.
“This arrest is a huge step towards getting much deserved justice for our victims no matter how much time has passed,” Cherokee Sheriff Frank Reynolds said. “We hope it brings some measure of peace to the survivor.”
By the time Keith allegedly kidnapped the young woman from the store on Hickory Flat Highway, he was already a convicted felon and had twice served in prison, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Records show Keith served from June 1974 until the following March and again from November 1980 until September 1982 after being convicted on various charges, including forgery and burglary.
Keith’s crimes did not end with the alleged rape in January 1986, records showed. He returned to prison in March 1987 and served until November 2001 following an armed robbery conviction in Cobb County. His most recent stint was from September 2002 until March 2014 for a child molestation conviction, also in Cherokee, according to DOC records.
When he was arrested this week, Keith was still on parole. He is also a registered sex offender.
The investigation into a separate rape case from 1986 continues, though DNA has identified Keith as a suspect, the sheriff’s office said.
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