CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley announced today that Derrick Brown, 26, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2013 rape of a 30-year-old developmentally-disabled woman in Garfield Heights and the 2019 rape of a 76-year-old woman in South Euclid.
"This predator violently beat and raped these victims, whose lives are now forever changed," said Prosecutor O'Malley. "He deserves every day of this decades-long prison sentence for these despicable actions."
According to records, on March 17, 2013, Brown, who was unknown to the victim, approached her and a friend talking outside of an apartment complex in Garfield Heights. The victim's friend let her and Brown into the complex and walked upstairs to his unit, leaving Brown and the victim in the hallway. Brown then reportedly demanded sex from the victim and, upon her refusal, punched her in the face, breaking the victim's nose, forced her to the ground and sexually assaulted her.
Brown fled the scene before Garfield Heights Police arrived. The Garfield Police Department was able to obtain DNA from the scene and was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, but it did not register a match as Brown had no prior record.
Additionally, on January 9, 2019, Brown broke into the second victim's home in south Euclid through a basement window during the middle of the night while the victim was asleep. The victim reportedly heard noise and walked into the kitchen where Brown beat her, knocking her to the ground and sexually assaulted her multiple times at knifepoint.
Following the assault, Brown forced the victim into her own car at knifepoint and drove her to a nearby bank and demanded she withdraw money. Brown then drove the victim back to her home and fled the scene in her car. South Euclid Police responded to the victim's 911 call from her home and processed DNA evidence from the scene.
An investigation from the South Euclid Police Department connected Brown to the 2019 crime and matched DNA evidence collected from the 2013 rape. U.S. Marshals later arrested Brown on January 21, 2019.
Brown entered a guilty plea of numerous charges including, but not limited to, three counts of rape, two counts of felonious assault, one count of aggravated burglary.
He will be classified as a Tier-III Sex Offender, requiring him to register every 90 days for the rest of his life.
