New federal funding addresses the Metro Police Crime Lab's backlog of sexual assault kits

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – When Memphis mother and preschool teacher Eliza Fletcher was murdered more than two years ago, outside the case the issue of untested sexual assault kits in Tennessee came to light.

The man convicted of Fletcher’s murder should have been arrested years earlier in connection with a rape, according to police. However, the rape kit had not been tested in that case, so he remained a free man.

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

In response to the backlog coming under such heavy scrutiny, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation not only ramped up testing but also outsourced 1,100 kits to a Florida lab.

These initiatives, leaders say, have tripled their processing speed by 2022.

“The sooner they are taken off the streets, the safer the streets are,” Wyatt said. “That’s just a fact.”

Metro Police leaders hope to replicate that practice here. With a grant they received from the federal government, if approved by the Metro Council, they would spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars on their own backlog problem they say they face.

Part of the financing, according to the grant applicationwill also go to the expansion of MNPD’s Forensic Biology Lab, where they are testing these kits.

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

Wyatt has been an advocate for victims 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 endure the same pain alone.

She believes outsourcing untested kits will expedite the justice victims deserve.

“It’s terrifying for a victim to wait without knowing who the perpetrator is,” Wyatt said. “I think most victims think, ‘Maybe he’ll come back and get me again.’ But they also think: ‘He’s going to do this again.’”

Wyatt hopes that outsourcing will not only eliminate the backlog, but also prevent the recidivism rate from creating a vast network of victims.

“I would say the long-term cost of victimization is much higher than just taking care of it on the front end,” Wyatt said.

The solution will appear before the Metro Council Public Health and Safety Committee at their meeting on Thursday, November 7.