UPDATE: Saunders has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Original story below…

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TOWSON, MD—A 30-year-old man has been convicted in connection with a 2019 rape that occurred in Baltimore County.

Brandon Saunders, 30, was convicted by a jury this week on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree assault, and kidnapping.

At around 3:00 a.m. on July 28, 2019, a woman accepted a ride from what is commonly referred to as a “hack” in Baltimore City to be taken to her fathers’ house.

Instead, the driver of the car, Saunders, took the victim to the back parking lot of Loch Raven High School. Saunders then assaulted the victim, threatened her life, and raped her.

When Saunders went to the trunk to get a weapon, the victim was able to flee barefoot, through a wooded area, and onto I-695 where she flagged down a passing motorist for help.

The Baltimore County Police Department uncovered a match between DNA recovered from the victim and DNA recovered from the scene of a rape in Baltimore City. According to the lead prosecutor, Lisa Dever, “this connection became vital in assisting the police in determining that Brandon Saunders was the man who raped the victim in this case.”

After the police were able to locate and arrest Saunders, they obtained a DNA sample which matched the evidence recovered from the victim.

“I am extremely grateful to Lisa Dever, Everett Bryant, and the detectives from both Baltimore County and Baltimore City for the excellent job all of them did in identifying and convicting Brandon Saunders for this brutal sexual assault on the victim,” said State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger. “By their actions, a violent sexual offender has been removed from the streets.”

Saunders will be sentenced on January 12, 2022.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels