Convicted Rapist Sentenced to Life

July 6, 2020 – A Memphis man on parole for a 1994 murder was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the abduction and rape of a young woman in 2015, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

Sean Rainer, 42, who was convicted in March of aggravated kidnapping and rape, was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life in prison without parole by Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee.

The incident occurred on April 17, 2015, when a 20-year-old woman walking on Airways and Ketchum was abducted by Rainer and forced into his truck. She said he threatened to “snap” her neck if she did not cooperate.

The woman said Rainer, who also used the names Sean Mitchell and Antwon Rainer, told her had just served 16 years in prison and did not fear going back. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing an Orange Mound man and wounding his girlfriend in 1994, but was paroled after serving less than a third of his sentence.

The 2015 victim said Rainer drove her to an apartment near Hacks Cross and Winchester where he raped her. She eventually managed to escape, and a minister who lived in the complex saw her and called police.

Rainer followed her in his truck for a short period, and was arrested after the victim pointed him out to police. He had fallen asleep in his truck parked outside the apartment gate.

The case was handled by Felony Assts. Stacy McEndree and Austin Nichols.