Sex Offender Convicted in Cold-Case Rape
Sept. 24, 2021 – A previous sex offender was convicted Thursday of raping a 24-year-old woman at a drive-in where he had taken her on their first date in 2003, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.
A Criminal Court jury deliberated less than 30 minutes before finding defendant Lester Ray Tolliver, now 58, guilty as charged of aggravated rape. He remains in custody and will be sentenced later by Judge Lee Coffee.
Tolliver has six other rape cases pending.
The incident occurred on July 3, 2003, about a month after the woman first met Tolliver at a service station in Memphis. They spoke on the phone after that and then went on a date to see a drive-in movie in the 5300 block of Summer Ave. He told her his name was Kevin.
The woman said that during the movie Tolliver began rubbing her legs and that when she told him to stop he only became more aggressive. She said he raped her in the front seat and then said he was taking her to a hotel to continue.
Soon after leaving the drive-in, the woman convinced Tolliver to stop his car at a service station so she could use the restroom. Once inside, the woman locked the door and called police on her cell phone. Tolliver left before police arrived.
A rape kit was compiled, but testing did not begin until 2013. After a DNA specimen from the kit was entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) databank, a match was found for Tolliver’s DNA which was on file.
Tolliver has prior convictions for attempted rape in 1993, and for sexual battery in 1988 and in 1989. He is on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry as a violent offender.
The trial this week was handled by Asst. Dist. Attys. Dru Carpenter and Meghan Fowler.
ADA Carpenter is with the District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit which prosecutes cases of rape, child sexual and severe physical abuse, elder abuse and vulnerable adult abuse.
ADA Fowler is with the District Attorney’s Special Prosecution Unit which seeks maximum sentencing for repeat felony offenders.