South DeKalb youth baseball coach Elzie Fulks jailed in cold case rape of teen

DEKALB COUNTY, GA—A  South DeKalb youth baseball coach will remain in jail after a judge denied him bond in a 2008 cold case rape.

Elzie Fulks, now 44, was indicted by a DeKalb County Grand Jury in November 2025 on one count of Rape and two counts of Aggravated Sodomy in connection with the attack of a 17-year-old girl in July 2008.  An arrest warrant was issued for Fulks, whose jail records show he lived in Conyers, GA. He was taken into custody and booked into the DeKalb County Jail on Jan. 16, 2026. 

In a hearing held Wednesday, March 4, DeKalb County Superior Court Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson denied Fulks’ request for bond.

According to the preliminary investigation, the victim told investigators that she was walking to a MARTA station when a man driving a dark colored Ford Explorer pulled over and offered to give her a ride. Instead of taking her to the train station, the man drove the teenage girl to a house where he assaulted her. The man then dropped her off near MARTA.  When the teen got home, she told a family member what happened and they called 911 to report the crime.  The victim underwent a sexual assault examination at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding. 

Fulks would have been about 26 years old at the time of the attack 18 years ago. 

In 2015, the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance established the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), an effort to fund testing of previously unprocessed sexual assault kits across the country. The DeKalb DA’s Office is part of the Georgia SAKI Task Force (GASAKI) created in 2018 in partnership with the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC). 

Through GASAKI work, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation tested the sexual assault kit, which resulted in a match to Defendant Fulks in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) in 2018.  While the crime was initially reported in Fulton County, investigators there transferred the case to DeKalb County in 2024 after reviewing the facts and circumstances. 

The case will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Unit.  

“I am proud of the diligent work of all our Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative partners who continue to ensure cases that may have previously slipped through the cracks are prosecuted,” said District Attorney Sherry Boston.  “It is critical that these survivors get their day in court and that the offenders are held responsible, no matter how much time has passed.” 

Because the case against  Fulks is open and pending, the District Attorney’s Office stated it cannot offer any further comment or information at this time.