A Hephzibah construction worker was brought to justice this week in a 2016 rape after a DNA match tied him to the case.
A Richmond County jury found Travis Marekus McNeil, 42, guilty of rape and aggravated assault by strangulation in the October 2016 case, tried this week by Assistant District Attorney Stetson Cromer.
According to a news release from Augusta Circuit District Attorney Jared Williams, the victim was in McNeil’s vehicle when he made unwanted advances. She attempted to run, but McNeil caught and overpowered her. He choked her and forced her back into the car, where he raped her in the back seat.
McNeil, who was indicted in 2019, went unconvicted of the charges until a DNA match from another case outside Augusta linked him to the crime, Williams said.
Superior Court Judge Ashley Wright sentenced McNeil to life in prison plus 20 years.
McNeil was employed with a construction company when was taken into custody Feb. 27, according to a booking report from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office. He had a Hephzibah address.
“McNeil is a predator and a rapist, with zero regard for bodily autonomy, and our state is a safer place with him locked away,” Williams said.
