MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Area lawmakers are announcing progress in addressing Tennessee’s sexual assault kit backlog.
The issue drew new attention following the 2022 murder of Eliza Fletcher, some saying it could have been prevented had a previous kit of her accused killer Cleotha Abston been tested faster.
In 2022, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said more than 1,000 kits sat in state labs untested. As of August, the number is less than 500.
TBI also says it has cut down the time it takes to test those kits by more than half. In July, 2022, it took the TBI almost a year to test a sexual assault kit at the state lab in Jackson, which is where Shelby County kits go. This year, according to TBI data, it is less than 18 weeks.
State Senator Brent Taylor from Shelby County said this is partially thanks 44 new crime lab scientists hired by TBI within the last year. TBI has also outsourced more than 850 kits for testing in Florida. Taylor hopes the testing turnaround can be cut down even further to just a few weeks.
“We need these scientists to keep that turnaround time low, so these scientists will play a part in making sure we never get back in the situation we were in just a year ago,” said Taylor.
TBI said it plans to hire six additional scientists to help by the end of the year.
Some people in the Memphis area however say more needs to be done, including attorney Gary Smith. The Memphis lawyer is currently involved in two cases against the city over its own backlog.
Smith is also representing Alicia Franklin, who said she was assaulted in September 2021 by the same man who is now accused of killing Eliza Fletcher.
Rape kit test results linking Abston’s DNA to Franklin were posted nearly a year later, the same day authorities discovered Fletcher’s body. Smith says rape kit testing turnaround should, and could be even faster than what lawmakers are aiming for.
“We know that this can be done in less than 24 hours, and the financial and staffing needs to have that, if not the goal to be under 24 hours with all cases, certainly days and not weeks,” said Smith.