FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
May 24, 2011
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Suzanne Webb (334) 242-7351
Page 1 of 1
AG STRANGE ANNOUNCES ARREST
FOR SEX CRIMES IN 1995 IN LEE COUNTY
(MONTGOMERY)–Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest today
of an Opelika man charged with multiple felonies for a violent sexual attack in Lee
County in 1995. Kevin Tawan Ross, 34, was arrested by special agents of the Attorney
General’s Office and detectives from the Opelika Police Department, and taken to the
Lee County Jail. The charges against him are the result of a joint investigation by the
Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit and the Opelika Police Department .
The Attorney General Office presented information to a Lee County grand jury
resulting in the indictment of Ross on May 11. Specifically, the indictment charges
Ross with the following crimes against a woman who was attacked on December 9,
1995: two counts of first-degree kidnapping (one count charging kidnapping with
intent to rape and one count charging kidnapping with intent to inflict serious injury
or sexual abuse); one count of first-degree rape, and one count of first-degree sodomy.
No further information about the investigation or about Ross’s alleged crimes
other than that stated in the indictment may be released at this time.
If convicted, Ross faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for each of the
charges of rape, sodomy and kidnapping, which are class A felonies.
The Attorney General’s Cold Case Initiative is a project conducted in partnership
with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences to investigate violent sexual crimes
that previously had been closed due to lack of investigative leads. This program is
funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice. In this particular case,
valuable assistance was provided by the Opelika Police Department under the
leadership of Chief Thomas Mangham and Captain Terry McMenamin. The Ross case is
being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Sonny Reagan of the Violent Crimes
Division.
*An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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501 Washington Avenue Montgomery, AL 36104 (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
