On March 29, 2019, Fort Wayne police announced they had arrested Marquise Donta Dozier, 22, and charged him with a series of three rapes in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The suspect would break into his victims’ homes and then sexually assault and sometimes batter them.
One victim was assaulted on September 24, 2015. She was asleep in her bed when she was beaten on the head with a rock and sexually assaulted in front of her young son. She told the court in her victim impact statement that she was too afraid to stay in her home and so she and her young son spent months homeless, staying a hotel room. The other two victims were assaulted in 2015 and 2017.
In August of 2017, the DNA profile of the suspect was entered into CODIS and showed that all three assaults were linked. However, there was no hit to an offender in the database.
The FGG investigation was conducted by Parabon Nanolabs in partnership with the Fort Wayne Police Department. Police also stated that fingerprints found at the crime scenes also tied Dozier to the assaults.
Dozier pled guilty to the charges. On September 27, 2019, he was sentenced to 55 years in prison for three counts of felony rape in Allen County Superior Court. He was described by friends and family as a role model, a husband and a father of two children. He apologized to the victims and asked for their forgiveness.
Sources:
Beatty, Brooklynne. “Alleged Fort Wayne Serial Rapist Pleads Guilty Thursday.” WOWO News, August 15, 2019. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.wowo.com/alleged-fort-wayne-serial-rapist-pleads-guilty-thursday/.
Greytak, Ellen. Director of Bioinformatics. Parabon Nanolabs. Personal Communication, April 28, 2023.
KPC News Service. “Police Arrest Suspect in Series of Three Rapes.” The Star, March 29, 2019. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.kpcnews.com/thestar/article_fa3ff94d-b5ef-504b-a11d-c97e755f56dd.html.
WANE News. “Serial rapist handed 55 Years.” WANE News, September 27, 2019. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.wane.com/news/crime/serial-rapist-handed-55-years/.
WISHTV. “Man ID’d From Fingerprints Admits to 3 Rapes in Indiana.” WISHTV.com, August 15, 2019. Last modified August 16, 2019. Accessed May 12, 2023. https://www.wishtv.com/news/man-idd-from-fingerprints-admits-to-3-rapes-in-indiana/.