North Carolina man found guilty, sentenced to more than 100 years in prison in attack on college students

Published 8:39 am Thursday, May 13, 2021

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A North Carolina man was found guilty and sentenced to more than 100 years in prison on charges stemming on an attack on two college students in 2016, court officials said Wednesday.

Titus Lee was found guilty of two counts of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree rape, robbery with a dangerous weapon and first-degree burglary, news outlets reported.

Testimony showed that the victims, both students at UNC Wilmington, were attacked as they sat on the porch of their apartment in Wilmington on Nov. 22, 2016. Lee lived with his mother and sister in the same apartment complex, authorities said.

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The former college student said the couple was forced to drive to an automatic teller machine and withdraw cash, then he was pistol-whipped and tied up in a closet while his girlfriend was raped.

According to testimony, the students traveled to the male victim’s parents’ house in Cherry Grove, South Carolina after Lee left. They said Lee told them he would find them and kill them if they called the police.

Lee was arrested weeks after the attack in Philadelphia by U.S. Marshals, authorities said.

The jury returned its verdict after hearing closing arguments and beginning deliberations on Tuesday.

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