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Written by: A. Smith
Published September 15, 2025 @ 10:17 AM ET
COBB COUNTY, Ga. – Nearly three decades after a woman was raped and kidnapped in her Kennesaw apartment, a Cobb County jury has convicted a man on multiple charges, thanks to DNA evidence that linked him to the crime.
The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office announced this week that Jerry Lee Pruitt was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years following his conviction. His sentence will run consecutively to a term he is already serving for another sexual assault in Alabama.
The case dates back to Oct. 23, 1997, when a 27-year-old woman was attacked as she left her apartment. Prosecutors said Pruitt ambushed her at the door, threw a jacket over her head, forced her back inside and assaulted her in the bedroom. Afterward, he forced the victim to shower and made her place some of her clothing in the washing machine before leaving.
Police were notified immediately, and the woman was taken to Kennestone Hospital, where a sexual assault kit was collected. At the time, investigators were unable to solve the case due to limitations in forensic testing.
In 2018, the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) prompted the retesting of the kit. That testing identified a male DNA profile, and a CODIS database hit in 2020 matched it to Pruitt.
“This trial marked the first case ever tried in Cobb County through SAKI,” District Attorney Sonya F. Allen said in a statement. “Justice was delayed in this case but delivered. It shows that time will not shield predators from accountability.”
During the trial, three other women — from Cobb County, Alabama, and Tennessee — testified about being attacked in incidents that prosecutors described as “eerily similar” to the 1997 assault.
Jurors also heard from the original victim and Georgia Bureau of Investigation chemists who confirmed the DNA match.
The victim told the court that the verdict brought long-awaited closure.
“Waiting 28 years to see justice has been surreal. I’m beyond thankful for this verdict and ready to turn the page of this chapter in my life,” she said. “I carry the voices of so many who have not been heard, and I stand for them.”