Two suspects remain at large a month after a brutal Jackson Ward home invasion, during which two gunmen raped a pregnant woman who’s gone public to share her story.
Elizabeth Roberts, 32, was attacked while her fiance, Scott Lewis, 34, was held at gunpoint in their home in the early morning hours of Feb. 18.
“It’s hard to be patient when I oftentimes feel like finding the attackers is the only thing that will ease my mind,” Roberts says. “But I trust [police] are doing everything they can.”
She hopes that the public will help find the attackers. And now police have a more detailed description than initial reports, which referred to the suspects only as young men.
One of the suspects is identified as a skinny black male, age 24-28, who was wearing dark-colored clothes and had a silver handgun. The other is described at a black male, age 18-26, wearing gray Nike shoes and armed with a handgun.
Police wouldn’t confirm when they received a more detailed description or the number of witnesses.
Roberts told reporters that she was unable to clearly see the attackers without her contact lenses, and that they were unknown to the couple.
Richmond police say they’re waiting for DNA evidence to be returned from the state lab after analysis, which may point authorities in a more definitive direction.
That morning, Lewis had gone out onto the porch of the couple’s home in the 700 block of North First Street to tend to their cat. In their account to reporters, two men approached him, pulled his hood over his head and forced guns under his ribs. They tried to rob him and then pushed him inside of the home.
Roberts, who was sleeping, woke up and called down to Lewis. The attackers quickly made their way upstairs, where one man held a gun to her head and demanded money and the second placed his foot on Lewis’ head and held him at gunpoint, CBS 6 reported.
That’s when Roberts, who was seven months pregnant, was raped. Her attacker left to search the house for money before coming back and attempting to attack her again. The two stole the couple’s cellphones, keys, wallets and various electronics.
When the men left, Roberts was able to tell a friend through his Xbox to notify Richmond police, who received the call around 3:30 a.m.
The two say they’re working to recover their sense of security in a new home and preparing for the birth of their daughter in a month. A Scott and Liz Recovery Fund set up through GoFundMe has raised more than $25,000.
One of their former neighbors, John Booker, says that he’s noticed an increase of crime in the area since 1998. He’s one of several residents on the block with security systems. At least two homes are equipped with cameras.
But such a violent crime isn’t the norm, he says: “I really don’t know what to say. It was just so shocking and they had two dogs and we didn’t hear a thing.”
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call Detective David Cuffley at 804-646-6795 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
