New federal funding targets Metro Police Crime Lab’s delay in sexual assault kits

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – When Memphis mother and kindergarten teacher Eliza Fletcher was killed more than two years ago, what surfaced beyond the case was the issue of untested sex assault kits in Tennessee.

The man who was convicted of killing Fletcher, police say, should have been arrested in connection with a rape years ago. The rape kit in that case, however, was untested, so he remained a free man.

“The perpetrators of these crimes are ticking time bombs just waiting to find their next victim,” said Verna Wyatt, co-founder of Tennessee Voices for Victims.

In response to the backlog that was so heavily scrutinized, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation not only stepped up its testing, but also outsourced 1,100 kits to a Florida lab.

These initiatives, leaders say, have increased their processing rate to three times the speed at which they were going in 2022.

“The faster they get off the streets, the safer the streets are,” Wyatt said. “It’s just a fact.”

Metro police leaders hope to emulate that practice here. In a grant they received from the federal government, if authorized by the Metro Council, they would dedicate nearly a quarter of a million dollars to their own backlog problem they say they face.

Part of the funding, according to grant applicationit will also go toward expanding the MNPD’s Forensic Biology Laboratory, where they test these kits.

“The sooner you catch that person, the sooner they don’t have an opportunity to create another victim,” Wyatt said.

Wyatt has been a victim advocate in Tennessee for decades. Since her own sister was raped and murdered, she has dedicated her life to making sure families don’t have to go through the same pain alone.

She believes outsourcing untested kits will speed victims to justice.

“It’s scary for a victim to wait not knowing who their offender is,” Wyatt said. “I think most victims think, ‘Well, maybe it’ll come back to get me again.’ But they also think, “he’ll do it again.”

Wyatt hopes that outsourcing will not only fix the backlog, but also prevent the recidivism rate from creating a massive web of victims.

“I would say the long-term cost of victimization is much more than taking care of it in the beginning,” Wyatt said.

The resolution will go before the Metro Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee at their meeting on Thursday, November 7.