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Library Workers Saw Boy Charged In Rape Case, Documents Say

Tribune file photo by JAY CONNER (2008)

Kendrick Morris appears before a judge in May. His mother, Lisa Stevens, stands behind him.

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By MIKE WELLS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2008

Updated: 06/24/2008 04:09 pm

TAMPA - In the hours before a young woman was raped and beaten outside the Bloomingdale Regional Public Library in April, library staff saw the 16-year-old suspect spend hours playing video games in the children's section and hanging out on the front benches outside after the library closed for the night.

That's according to additional investigative documents written by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office that were made public today as part of the trial discovery process.

Bloomingdale High School sophomore Kendrick Morris remains in Orient Road Jail, charged with nine felonies in two separate sexual attacks.

Authorities have charged him with the April 24 rape of the 18-year-old woman outside the library in Valrico and, after making a DNA match, the June 2007 rape of a 62-year-old worker at Children's Lighthouse Day Care Center, which is less than a mile from his Clair-Mel home.

If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

The documents released today also contain supplements to the investigative report, interviews with other witnesses who said they saw Morris in the vicinity of the library and at nearby businesses and copies of subpoenas that allowed detectives to obtain DNA evidence from Morris.

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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