NEWS RELEASE
January 23, 2024
For immediate release
Durham DA’s Office Awarded $1.15 Million Grant to Continue Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
DURHAM, NC — The Durham County District Attorney’s Office has received a $1.15 million federal grant to continue the prosecution of cases charged as a result of testing sexual assault evidence kits, District Attorney Satana Deberry announced today.
The National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) provides resources to investigate and prosecute cases in which sexual assault evidence kits were completed but not previously tested.
“Through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the Durham DA’s Office has been able to revisit decades-old cases and get justice for survivors who have waited too long to see it,” Deberry said. “We are grateful for the opportunity this funding provides to continue holding people accountable and making our community safer. No matter how long ago an assault occurred, the Durham DA’s Office is here for survivors.”
Awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice Programs (OJP) through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the three-year grant funds a full-time prosecutor dedicated to SAKI cases, which the Durham DA’s Office had from 2020 to 2023. In addition, it adds a new, full-time SAKI legal assistant position as well as funding for specialized DNA testing as needed, training and consulting, expert witness compensation, and survivors’ food, lodging and travel costs during trial.
“Having dedicated staff for these highly sensitive and complex cases ensures they are not only rigorously prosecuted, but that we do so in a trauma-informed and survivor-centered way,” said Assistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-Lamarca, who will continue to serve as the Office’s dedicated SAKI prosecutor. “This grant will allow us to reduce barriers to justice for vulnerable survivors, strengthen partnerships with law enforcement and victim service providers, and bring closure to more cases.”
The grant award builds on efforts that began several years ago to revisit previously unresolved sexual assault cases in Durham.
In 2017, the North Carolina State Crime Lab asked law enforcement agencies statewide to conduct an inventory of their untested sexual assault evidence kits. Nearly 1,800 kits were determined to be in the possession of Durham County law enforcement agencies, including just over 1,700 with the Durham Police Department (DPD). DPD began submitting kits for testing in 2018, and in 2019 received a federal SAKI grant to test kits and create a Cold Case Sexual Assault Unit that first established the dedicated SAKI prosecutor position in the Durham DA’s Office.
Since then, the Durham DA’s Office has obtained convictions against nine SAKI defendants — some repeat offenders — in 12 sexual assaults dating back to 2005. Currently, the DA’s Office has charges pending related to 17 assaults, the oldest occurring in 1990. All inventory kits that required DNA testing in the possession of Durham County law enforcement agencies have now been submitted to labs, with testing complete for the vast majority.
“The Durham DA’s Office thanks the U.S. Department of Justice and local law enforcement agencies, the North Carolina Department of Justice, especially the Durham Police Department, for their dedication to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative,” Deberry said. “We look forward to continuing this critical work.”
The Durham County District Attorney’s Office employs about 40 people, including prosecutors, administrators, victim service coordinators, legal assistants, and support staff. The Office is led by District Attorney Satana Deberry, who took office on January 1, 2019. The Office represents the State in all criminal cases in Durham County. Find more information about the role of the district attorney on the Durham DA’s Office Medium page.
