FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — An accused serial rapist has been found guilty by a Fulton County jury.
Dandre Shabazz had been on trial, accused of raping a dozen women - many described by prosecutors as prostitutes - at gunpoint in southwest Atlanta between 2002 and 2005.
Shabazz, now 55, was charged with 24 counts in connection to the alleged assaults, including 11 counts of rape, four counts of aggravated sodomy, four counts of armed robbery, three counts of kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was also facing a count of aggravated child molestation because prosecutors said one of the victims was underage at the time.
The jury found Shabazz guilty on all but one count. The verdict is as follows:
- Count 1: rape - guilty
- Count 2: rape - guilty
- Count 3: rape - guilty
- Count 4: rape - guilty
- Count 6: rape - guilty
- Count 7: aggravate sodomy - guilty
- Count 8: kidnapping - guilty
- Count 9: rape - guilty
- Count 10: armed robbery - guilty
- Count 11: rape - guilty
- Count 12: armed robbery - guilty
- Count 13: kidnapping - not guilty
- Count 14: aggravated assault with deadly weapon - guilty
- Count 15: rape - guilty
- Count 16: aggravated sodomy - guilty
- Count 17: aggravated child molestation - guilty
- Count 18: kidnapping - guilty
- Count 19: rape - guilty
- Count 20: aggravated sodomy - guilty
- Count 21: armed robbery - guilty
- Count 22: aggravated sodomy - guilty
- Count 23: armed robbery - guilty
- Count 24: rape - guilty
Count 5, rape, was not read in court.
According to the District Attorney's office, Shabazz targeted young women who were alone at night, describing him as a "violent serial rapist."
"Shabazz specifically focused upon women who were struggling and in many cases were sex workers," the DA's office said.
It wasn't until more than a decade later - in 2018 - that he was linked to the alleged assaults after a backlog of 1,500 untested rape kits stored at Grady Hospital was cleared within Fulton County.
Shabazz was already serving prison time in North Carolina for a robbery and was expected to be released in September 2019, had he not been indicted on the rapes here in Fulton County.
The day before his conviction, Shabazz took the stand because he said he wanted to have his version of events on record.
In his own words, Shabazz admitted to engaging in unprotected sex with prostitutes while married at the time, but claimed that he did not force any of the women to have sex with him. He also said he would never unknowingly have sex with someone underage.
In closing statements, Shabazz's attorney said his client does not dispute the fact that he had sex with the alleged victims. However, the attorney implored the jury to take into account how long ago the alleged crimes happened.
"These cases were so long ago that facts of these cases were so obscure to them that they had to look at the reports just to testify," he said, pointing to what he described as inaccuracies in the testimonies and investigative failures in the case.
The jury ultimately found there was enough evidence for a guilty verdict.
Shabazz will now be sentenced March 3 at 10 a.m.
