DNA evidence led to the indictment Friday of a Toledo man suspected of raping three different women — two at gunpoint — in 2010 and 2011.
Darnell Reynolds, 33, was indicted on three counts of rape, one count of aggravated robbery, and three accompanying firearm specifications. Police were searching for him Friday.
Reynolds’ indictment was the first case brought against a named suspect in a cold rape case since Toledo police and the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office formed the Cold Case Sexual Assault Task Force late last year.
The team is reopening more than 1,700 unsolved rape cases as part of a statewide initiative to have evidence from previously untested rape kits examined for DNA by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. DNA profiles developed through the testing are compared with the FBI’s nationwide database, the Combined DNA Index System, for possible matches.
Local police and prosecutors vowed to pursue the most egregious cases first.
“These sets of facts are the type of facts that jump off the page and require swift action for the safety of the community,” said Charles McDonald, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor who works with the Cold Case Sexual Assault Task Force. “Specifically that Reynolds is out on the street and is no stranger to violent sexual crimes.”
The charges allege that Reynolds, who also has gone by the name Darnell Ashford, raped a woman he approached as she was leaving the Lucas County jail Aug. 4, 2010. He is charged in a similar attack on a different woman not far from the jail Sept. 19, 2010.
Nearly a year later, on July 14, 2011, Reynolds allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl and robbed her of a cell phone near Hamilton Street and City Park Avenue.
Since the Cold Case Sexual Assault Task Force was created, two indictments have been filed against “John Doe” and a corresponding DNA profile. Both cases were nearly 20 years old and in danger of exceeding the 20-year statute of limitations. If and when a suspect is identified through a DNA match, those cases are expected to be prosecuted.
In addition to the John Doe indictments, the task force also has presented to the grand jury the cases of seven individuals whose DNA was identified during recent testing of rape kits from unsolved cases.
Mr. McDonald said charges were not brought in any of those cases for a number of reasons, including victims who could not be located, victims who refused to cooperate with investigators, and victims who didn’t want to prosecute years ago and still don’t.
Toledo police Detective Vince Mauro said he and other task force members agreed the Reynolds case needed immediate attention even as victims have been difficult to find.
“In this particular case, the crimes were so similar and heinous in nature that we felt the public’s safety and well-being outweighed our decision to not make victims relive stuff they didn’t want to because the guy is still at large, and there are other people in the city who have mothers, daughters, and sisters who could be pursued,” he said.
Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published May 23, 2015, 4:00 a.m.