COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A convicted rapist, Jerry Pruitt, has been sentenced to two life terms plus 20 years for a 1997 rape and kidnapping case in Kennesaw, which was solved using advancements in DNA testing.
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The case had been cold for nearly 28 years until investigators used DNA evidence to link Pruitt to the crime. The Cobb County District Attorney’s office played a crucial role in bringing the case to trial, where Pruitt was found guilty of multiple charges, including rape and kidnapping.
“He had a pattern,” said Cobb County District Attorney Sonya Allen. “He had done this multiple times.”
The investigation revealed that Pruitt had targeted women whose apartments had sliding glass doors facing wooded areas, typically on the first or second floors. This pattern was consistent across multiple victims in different states.
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In the 1997 incident, Pruitt attacked a 27-year-old woman as she was leaving her apartment to meet her future mother-in-law. He covered her head with a coat and forced her back inside, leaving the victim unable to see his face and provide a description to the police.
Decades later, advancements in DNA technology allowed investigators to match male DNA from the crime scene to Pruitt, providing the evidence needed to convict him.
Pruitt’s sentence in Cobb County will run consecutively with the time he is already serving for a sexual assault conviction in Alabama.
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