A special setting of Vance County Criminal Superior Court was held Monday, December 19, 2016. The Honorable Robert H. Hobgood Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for Franklin, Granville, Vance, and Warren Counties presided for the term. The Office of District Attorney Mike Waters was represented by Assistant District Attorneys Melissa D. Pelfrey and Onica F. Fuller. The single matter scheduled for hearing was the sentencing of Daquan Keith Foster.
Defendant Daquan Foster was convicted of First Degree Rape on December 4, 2015, before the same judge. The sentencing was continued to allow his attorney, E.N. Bagshawe of Warrenton to put forward evidence in mitigation.
Daquan Foster was sentenced to 239 to 347 months in the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Division of Adult Correction for a 2013 rape in the City of Henderson. Officers with the Henderson Police Department investigated the case after a citizen reported that the victim came out of the woods reporting that she had been sexually assaulted. Strong police work resulted in an eyewitness identification by the victim and the collection of DNA evidence, both of which were presented by the State during Foster’s trial. It took jurors less than an hour to return a verdict of guilty of First Degree Rape against Foster. The jury also heard evidence concerning aggravating factors that were put forth by the State in an effort to increase Foster’s sentence. Jurors took less than five minutes to decide that the State had proven the aggravating factors based on the victim’s mental and physical infirmities and that she was handicapped. This case was investigated and prepared for trial by Detective Brandon Logue, Detective Jessica West, and patrol officers with the Henderson Police Department.
It’s through the hard work of the Henderson Police Department and their collaboration with our office that convictions like this are made possible. Our office would like to acknowledge the victim for her willingness to participate in this prosecution. Without her courage and the hard work of law enforcement, this would not have been possible.