One of the two defendants accused of a robbery and rape in Starkville a year ago faces a jury in Oktibbeha County Circuit Court this week.
Terry Lamont Hill, 44, of West Point, was charged with robbery, kidnapping and rape in May 2016 after police arrested him in connection with a robbery at a home in the Cotton District. According to investigators with the Starkville Police Department, Hill was one of two men who allegedly entered the home, where they beat a man, tied him up with shoelaces and locked him in a closet before raping a woman in the home.
Hill’s jury was chosen Monday, and opening statements are expected to begin today.
SPD Det. Jonathan Headley testified in a May 2016 hearing that Hill and his co-defendant beat the male victim with a blunt object until the male victim was dazed and took his iPhone before forcing him into the closet. The victim was able to grab a cell phone and take it into the closet with him where he called 911.
Headley testified that while one suspect held the closet door shut, the other forced the woman in the home to have intercourse.
The woman was later taken to OCH Regional Medical Center, and Headley said she accused both suspects of raping her.
At a later hearing, Headley testified DNA which investigators obtained from the female victim matched Hill’s DNA.
Also accused in the robbery and rape is McCool resident Jerry Lee Talley, Jr. Talley’s trial has been continued until October. His lawyer, Benjamin Lang of Starkville, filed a motion to withdraw as Talley’s attorney, citing “a conflict … which restricts attorney’s ability to effectively represent defendant,” according to court documents.
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