After nearly 14 years, justice has found its way into the dimly lit corridors of an unresolved sexual assault case from 2010—a crime that remained a shadow over Big Rapids until modern forensics shed new light. MLive reports that Donald Eugene Taylor, a 35-year-old man from Evart, was convicted on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, with additional charges including kidnapping, home invasion, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
The original investigation by the Big Rapids police hit a dead-end in 2011, but a DNA match earlier this year catapulted the inactive case back to the forefront, thanks to a CODIS hit, according to upnorthlive, and Sergeant Ryan Myers of the Big Rapids Department of Public Safety had the dormant case reopened, leading to Taylor's eventual arrest and subsequent trial which, after beginning on October 15, culminated swiftly with a guilty verdict by October 17, as 9and10news detailed in their coverage.
Taylor, who has been incarcerated at the Mecosta County Jail, now faces the possibility of life imprisonment with his sentencing set for November 25.
