Dezmon Lawrence convicted of kidnapping, raping woman in Elyria in 2021

ELYRIA — Dezmon Lawrence hung his head Thursday as Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Donna Freeman read a jury's verdict in his rape and kidnapping case. The 12-member jury found Lawrence, 44, of Elyria, guilty of one count of rape and two counts of kidnapping, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor charges of assault and aggravated menacing for raping a woman nearly five years ago, then taking her to an Erie County motel. Freeman ordered a presentence investigation. Sentencing is Oct. 15. The trial started Aug. 24. Jurors got the case late Wednesday afternoon and deliberated four hours Thursday before reaching a verdict. Sitting with Lorain County Prosecutor's Office staff in court, the victim sobbed as Freeman announced the verdicts.The victim hugged Assistant Prosecutor Daniellela Leigh following the verdict. Leigh, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Mark Koza, praised the woman for her bravery and taking the witness stand against her attacker. The Chronicle-Telegram typically does not name victims of sexual assault. The victim and Lawrence had ended a relationship earlier in 2021, then reconnected that December, jurors learned. Starting Dec. 13, 2021, Lawrence and the victim exchanged messages on social media. That began a pattern of manipulation, Leigh said. Lawrence got angry and hit the victim after a man said "hi" to her at a Cleveland strip club one night later that week. One of Lawrence's friends had to step in and break up the assault, Leigh said. Staying with Lawrence at his mother's home on Burns Road in Elyria, the victim didn't feel free to leave, Leigh said, and was there only out of fear and threats to her safety. Leigh said it was late on Dec. 19 or early on Dec. 20, 2021, that Lawrence put a knife to the woman's throat, raped her and prevented her from leaving his room. He promised to take the woman home the following day, but instead drove her to a motel in Perkins Township, just south of Sandusky in Erie County. There they fought again, with the victim accidentally spraying herself with pepper spray or Mace. The victim and a good Samaritan both called 911 and Perkins Township police rescued the victim. DNA evidence recovered during a sexual assault examination at Firelands Regional Medical Center proved Lawrence and the woman had sexual intercourse. Prosecutors and police said it was rape, with the 6-foot, 3-inch and 235-pound Lawrence easily overpowering his smaller victim and cutting her neck and arm with the knife. "This was about control," Leigh told jurors. Lawrence, who took the stand in his own defense, said he and the victim had a consensual sexual relationship. He said he wasn't a violent man, but an emotional one. Text messages seen by the jury from that week showed the victim inviting Lawrence over to have sex with her. Defense attorney Matt Bobrowski also questioned the woman's memory and her sense of time, saying she had trouble with dates and times. He told jurors Lawrence had been out of state during the time the victim said she hadn't been free to leave his mother's house. Bobrowski asked jurors to decide if Lawrence was even in Elyria when the alleged crimes occurred: Lawrence testified he was in West Virginia selling candles on Dec. 18, 2021, while his mother testified he had gone there for a court hearing. Bobrowski also said the victim lacked injuries consistent with a violent rape. "The details are up to you, the jury, to look at and evaluate," he told the jury. Leigh said the lack of obvious injuries doesn't mean the victim wasn't strangled or raped. "It doesn't mean it didn't happen," she said. The victim had no motive to lie, and her story "has been consistent the last five years," Leigh said. Lawrence currently is serving a 4½-to-5-year prison term on felony weapons, drug trafficking and drug possession charges following a prior conviction in Lorain County and an abduction conviction in Erie County. He also has pleaded not guilty to rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and gross sexual imposition charges, all felonies, in a second sexual assault case filed earlier this year in Common Pleas Court. That case, involving the alleged assault of a 16-year-old victim in 2019, is set for trial in January. Contact Dave O'Brien at 440-329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.