Police Say Rapist Left His Cellphone Behind

Jones Charged In Attack At Home Of Stranger

Monday, September 12, 2011
Derrick Leon Jones
Derrick Leon Jones

Police said they had no clues in a case in which a woman said she was raped repeatedly by a strange masked man who invaded her home.

Then the woman found the rapist's cellphone the next day.

Police later tracked the phone to Derrick Leon Jones, and they said they located his DNA in sperm on the victim's nightgown.

Jones, 22, of 1664 Green Dale Way, Hixson, is facing charges of aggravated rape.

The woman said in the incident Aug. 15, 2010, she was awakened at her home by an unknown black male with a mask over his face.

She said he raped her multiple times after wrestling her into bed.

She was afterward hospitalized at Erlanger Hospital for excessive bleeding and lacerations in her private area.

After the woman returned to her home to begin packing up to move, she located an unfamiliar cellphone next to her bed.

The cellphone was analyzed by police and it showed several pictures of a black male who matched the physical description of the rapist. The pictures were taken at Northgate Crossing apartment community.

An officer on Jan. 7 spoke with the property manager who positively identified a black female from one of the pictures as Tracy Jones of apt. 436. Ms. Jones said the male in the pictures was her son, Derrick Jones.

Officers took a DNA sample from Derrick Jones.

Police said Jones denied knowing the victim or being in or around her home.

A copy of the DNA report was received last Thursday from the TBI and it "revealed that Derrick Jones' sperm was found on the nightgown that (victim) was wearing on the night that she was attacked and raped."

Derrick Jones was in the news in 2008 when he and another youth were caught inside Hixson High School. Authorities said one of the two had an unloaded gun and they had gone to the school to sell drugs.


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