Sexual assault victim says attacker walks free after 2 years, blames state's DNA processing systems

CHICAGO (WLS) -- One sexual assault victim says almost two years later, her attacker still walks the streets.

Her case has been delayed, and she blames it on lab testing delays and how some evidence was handled.

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Now, she is coming forward because she is frustrated with the system.

Kelly Yancy still struggles with the memories of her sexual assault. Her attacker, she said, asking for a ride in her car after she had met him at a party.

"I tried to scratch, get as much DNA as a I could," Yancy said. "I was held in my vehicle for five and a half hours, freezing cold outside. Immediately after I was sexually assaulted, I drove myself to 71st and Cottage Grove police department."

Now, almost two years later, Yancy said, her case is nowhere close to being solved.

"I'm hurt. I felt like, I feel like," Yancy said through emotion. "It's hard. I feel like I was forgotten about."

Yancy is pointing the finger at the Illinois State Police Crime lab and Chicago police. She says CPD misplaced DNA evidence left behind by her attacker like fingerprints, a liquor bottle and vomit.

She says about nine months after the attack, the detective told her the evidence was not submitted to the state crime lab.

"She verbally told me that it was filed under, misfiled under another case," Yancy said.

But months later, in an email, the detective said, "The request to test the evidence from your vehicle was submitted on 01 Apr 2024."

That was almost a year and a half after the attack.

Yancy said she is now waiting on those results being processed by the state lab.

CPD responded to the ABC7 I-Team, saying, "The Chicago Police Department is committed to thoroughly investigating criminal sexual assault cases, as well as supporting the victims who are living with the trauma and aftermath of these assaults. Detectives are in contact with the victim in this specific case, which remains an active and ongoing investigation."

"I felt as though I was neglected," Yancy said.

Yancy believes that car evidence should have been submitted to the state labs immediately, with her sexual assault kit evidence from the hospital.

"Things on my body as far as being choked, as far as scratches, as far as bruises," Yancy said.

However, her sex assault kit tested, without the car evidence, came back inconclusive. Adding to the frustration, Yancy said, that sex assault kit test was delayed by nine months at the state lab.

ISP said they cannot speak about specific cases, but that since May 2022, sex assault kit processing has been meeting the state law requirements at under six months or 180 days.

When asked what he says to critics who believe 180 days is not good enough, ISP Forensics Deputy Director Robin J. Woolery said, "I agree. I certainly agree, that's just the minimum. That's the bare minimum. And we need to get down to a turnaround time That's going to be more acceptable for our victims."

ISP says so far in 2024, 15% of sex crime kits have been processed in under 30 days, 27% in under 90 days and that all have been processed in under 180 days.

ISP said it is up to date on the latest technology, like rapid DNA, which they showed the I-Team in 2020. But the biggest challenge, they said, is staffing.

"A lot of it is finding qualified applicants and then getting them through. And then, to work in the crime lab, there's a lot of different steps, requirements, background checks," Woolery said.

Carolina Sanchez from the survivor advocate group Resilience said some states are now processing results in 30, 60 or 90 days, and said Illinois needs to do better than 180 days.

"So many of these cases aren't going anywhere they are kind of sitting waiting for results from the evidence collection kit to come in," Sanchez said. "Especially when you have survivors who are out there continuing to live in the fear, 'Is the offender going to come after me again?'"

When asked where she is left, Yancy said, "Hopeless. "