DNA evidence leads to conviction in 18-year-old Greenville rape

A Raleigh man faces a maximum sentence of almost 68 years in prison after a Pitt County jury found him guilty of a 2006 sexual assault and robbery.

The Pitt County District Attorney’s Office said that on Thursday a jury found Kevin Earl Parker, 48, of 1423 Beacon Village Drive, Raleigh, guilty of first degree rape, first degree sexual offense and robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection to a July 9, 2006, incident.

Court documents said the assault occurred at 3313 Parkway Court, Apt. B, where a woman reported someone broke into her home and attacked her. He wielded a knife and also took an unspecified amount of cash from the victim, the documents said.

A rape kit was completed at the hospital and summarily sent to the State Crime Lab for examination. Court documents said that on July 19, 2022, just over 16 years after the assault, a Combined DNA Index System hit from the crime lab came back to Parker. In October of 2022 police took a DNA sample from Parker.

Pitt County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Foster sentenced Parker to 653-812 months in prison after the guilty verdict. Parker summarily appealed the decision.

Joel Stadiem was the prosecutor in the case. Parker was represented by J. Taplie Coile, a Pitt County public defender.