A 22-year-old Memphis man has been convicted on charges stemming from a 2022 ordeal in which a woman says she was beaten, sexually assaulted and held against her will for two days before being dropped off at a hospital. Adrian Pegues was found guilty of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, domestic assault and two additional counts of rape following a trial that lasted four days.
The verdict itself is described differently depending on the outlet. According to WREG, a jury found Pegues guilty as charged. Action News 5, however, reports that a Shelby County judge made the finding of guilt. Both outlets agree on the underlying charges and the broad strokes of what happened in August 2022.
A Confrontation That Began at an Aunt's House
The case traces back to August 2022, when Pegues showed up unannounced at the victim's aunt's house and demanded she get into his Cadillac Escalade, the victim told police, per the station's report. From there, Action News 5 reports that Pegues arrived at a home on Woodbury Road, assaulted the victim and took her cellphone before driving her to another location.
What followed, according to the victim's account relayed in court, was two days in which she says she could not leave. The same account describes Pegues repeatedly punching her until she vomited, and demanding sex multiple times during that span.
Threats and a Hospital Drop-Off
The victim told investigators that Pegues threatened to kill her if she tried to alert her family or law enforcement. According to a police statement cited in the outlet's report, he told her, “The only way to keep you quiet is to kill you.”
Pegues eventually dropped the victim off at Baptist Hospital after she pleaded for medical treatment, the station's report states. Action News 5 notes that she had severe bruising to her face, eyes and nose, along with a fracture to her nose in two places.
Sentencing Still to Come
Pegues will be sentenced at a later date, Action News 5 reports. No sentencing date or potential punishment has been disclosed.
Separately, Pegues has faced federal charges unrelated allegations tied to a series of carjackings and kidnappings in the Memphis area. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment in March 2023 charging Pegues and Malik Malone with multiple offenses, including kidnapping, arising from violent events in Memphis and Germantown. The Justice Department later said that Pegues, Malone and Alan Key pleaded guilty to federal charges connected to that series of holiday-season carjackings and kidnappings, according to a separate announcement from the Western District of Tennessee. It is not established whether those federal cases are connected to the state kidnapping and rape conviction detailed above.
