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DEKALB COUNTY, GA—A convicted serial rapist from Lithonia will spend the rest of his life in prison.
On Thursday, April 17, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Nora Polk, who presided over the trial, sentenced Marieo Terrell Kearney to Life Without the Possibility of Parole, plus 5 years to serve consecutively.
Jurors found Kearney, 40, guilty on March 12 of Rape, Aggravated Sodomy, Kidnapping, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony in connection with the assault of a woman in a parking lot on May 27, 2019. Investigators found that Kearney’s DNA from the 2019 rape kit matched other victims who were raped by him.
According to the investigation, officers with the DeKalb County Police Department (DKPD) responded at around 9:30 p.m. to a report of a rape near I-20 and I-285. They spoke to the 35-year-old victim who explained that she had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend outside a laundromat on Glenwood Road. At around 8 p.m., her boyfriend walked away and a man driving a blue or green sedan pulled up to talk to her. The woman tried to ignore the man, but then he pointed a gun at her and said if she did not get in the car with him that he would shoot her.
The woman got into the car and the man, later identified as Kearney, drove around for several minutes as she pleaded with him to let her go. Eventually, Defendant Kearney pulled behind a building in the 3900 block of Snapfinger Road. He ordered the woman to get out of the car, take off her clothes, and perform oral sex on him. Defendant Kearney then raped her.
After the assault, Kearney asked the victim if she had any money and went through her purse. When he discovered the woman did not have any cash, Kearney threw her bag on the ground and told her to take her belongings and go.
The victim ran into some nearby woods and called her boyfriend and then the police. The woman was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where medical professionals conducted a rape exam. DNA from the rape kit matched Defendant Kearney, who also turned out to be a match to several other pending rape cases in DeKalb County around the same time. During the trial, the prosecution presented details about those incidents.
April 16, 2019
Kearney solicited a sex worker and arranged to meet with her at her apartment on Kenridge Parkway in unincorporated Decatur. When he arrived, Kearney pointed a gun at the woman, forced her to undress and raped her. During the assault, Kearney made the victim give him the passcode to unlock her phone and used it to film the rape. Kearney then robbed the woman of her phone, wallet and other items and threatened that if she reported the crime, he would come back. DNA from the victim’s rape kit was a matched Kearney’s.
May 2, 2019
A woman was walking near Memorial Drive and Columbia Drive at around 12:45 a.m. when a man in a white Dodge sedan drove up and offered her a ride. The woman said he agreed to drop her off at a gas station on Wesley Chapel Road and she accepted. Instead, the man drove around for about 10 minutes and pulled into a parking lot of Memorial Drive where he pulled out a handgun and ordered the woman to undress. The man then forced the woman to perform oral sex on him and raped her. After the attack, the man drove the victim to the Kensington MARTA station and dropped her off. She reported the assault to MARTA Police, who contacted DKPD. DNA from the victim’s rape kit matched Kearney.
September 22, 2011
A woman took a bus from Pennsylvania to Morrow, GAand arrived at the station around 10:30 p.m. She began to walk with her suitcases when a man drove up and offered her a ride. The woman saw a car seat in the back of the car and told investigators she assumed he was “a family man,” so she got into the car thinking she was safe. The man drove around for a while, stopped for gas, and eventually drove to a parking lot off Southlake Parkway in Morrow.
The woman decided to get out of the car and as she started to grab her luggage, the driver got out and stopped her. The man sprayed the woman with pepper spray. She tried to fight back, but he forced her to the ground where he removed her pants and underwear and raped her. The man got into his car and drove off after the attack. The woman walked to a nearby business for help.
An officer with the Morrow Police Department took a statement from the victim and she was transported to Southern Regional Medical Center. Medical professionals performed a rape exam and treated the victim’s arm, which had been broken in the attack.
Police collected surveillance video from the bus station and the gas station that showed Kearney with the victim. From the surveillance footage, she was able to positively identify him as her rapist. DNA from her sexual assault kit was a match to Defendant Kearney.
The Clayton County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted Kearney for the Morrow rape in 2012, but the case ended in a mistrial. Later that year, Kearney pleaded guilty to Aggravated Assault and was sentenced to 10 years to serve 3 in confinement with the balance on probation.
The May 2019 case in DeKalb County was assigned to the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit and prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Kelsey Devitto, with assistance from Senior Assistant District Attorney Furhawn Shah, District Attorney Investigator Katrina Calderon, District Attorney Investigator Chrissa Lynch, and Victim Advocate Britney Winley. Former DeKalb County Police Department Detective J.L. Lewis led the initial investigation.