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Library Rape Case Victim Asks: 'Why Can't I See? ... Why Me?'

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune
and MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

Updated: 06/06/2008 02:38 pm

TAMPA - A teenage rape victim, attacked at Bloomingdale Regional Public Library in April, suffered a fracture to her forehead, a small fracture near the tip of her nose and suffered multiple strokes because she had been strangled, according to new court documents released today.

The victim, who is not named because of the nature of the crime, had lost her vision because of the attack, reports state.

Although Hillsborough County sheriff's officials and prosecutors have said the 18-year-old East Bay High School senior was in critical but stable condition, the extent of her injuries had not been released previously.

The new information was detailed in reports among several hundred pages of documents released today by prosecutors.

On April 27, three days after the attack, deputies tried to interview the victim at Tampa General Hospital.

"What happened to me?" a sheriff's detective quoted her as saying. "I remember going to the library. … I was on the phone."

The detective asked whether she remembered anything after that.

"No, what happened to me?" she responded. "Why can't I see? … Why me?"

Another detective came to the hospital a few hours later. The woman was sleeping, but her doctor told the detective about her fractures and the strokes.

The documents state that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement matched semen found on the victim to 16-year-old Kendrick Morris. He has been charged as an adult in the case.

The FDLE also ran Morris' DNA through the state database and says it linked him to a 2007 rape of a worker at Children's Lighthouse Day Care Center.

In all, Morris faces nine adult charges.

News Channel 8 reporter Krista Klaus contributed to this report. Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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