After 9 years with no arrests, DNA reopens Charlotte rape case
Raped in Charlotte at 13 years old and left without closure for more than nine years, a woman now has some answers in a case that went cold in 2014.
DNA retrieved with a rape test kit led officers to Travon Levi Woods, now 33, back in 2016, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release. Police waited until now to charge Woods because he was already jailed in another North Carolina prison on other charges and was not considered an active threat, said CMPD public information officer Michael Allinger.
It is unclear where exactly the assault happened. Police on Aug. 13, 2014, responded to a call for service in the 3200 block of Shamrock Drive, which now houses a park and the Shamrock Senior Center near Eastway Drive and Briar Creek.
Woods was at Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville for unrelated charges until Oct. 4 of this year, police said. When he was released, officers transferred him to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, where he was charged with statutory rape, two counts of statutory sex offense and four counts of indecent liberties with a minor.
The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) led detectives to Woods, who was 24 at the time of the assault.
Similar technology has helped local police solve cold cases dating back to the 1980s.
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 4:24 PM.
