On June 25, 2014, authorities believe, Odell Montavious Stringer abducted a woman from a Dollar General store and forced her to drive to an empty home, where he handcuffed her to the basement's exposed beams and sexually assaulted her.
Last week, a Gwinnett County judge sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in prison.
According to information released by the Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office, the 23-year-old victim was outside a Dollar General in Bethlehem when Stringer approached her and asked for "directions to the poultry plant nearby." The woman said she didn't know where the plant was, but Stringer didn't give up. He asked for a ride, saying he had a job interview.
The woman conceded.
"He began giving her directions and made small talk," the district attorney's office said in a news release. "She then realized they had been driving longer than expected and [were] going towards Loganville."
The woman tried to pull into a gas station, but Stringer pulled out a Taser, officials said. She drove on.
They pulled into the Breckinridge subdivision off Old Loganville Road, where Stringer reportedly told the woman to pull down a steep driveway. She refused, and Stringer choked her until she passed out. He dragged her into the home's unfinished basement.
"The defendant put [the victim] on a mattress and made her remove her shorts and underwear," officials said. "He then handcuffed her to the studs in the basement ... She testified that defendant sexually assaulted her as she lay on [the] mattress."
Stringer then forced the woman to get up and drive him away but, at the intersection of U.S. 78 and Old Loganville Road, she got out of the car and ran.
Stringer drove off but was later apprehended — after having doused the victim's car with bleach.
On Sept. 2, Stringer was found guilty of kidnapping with bodily injury, theft by taking and battery. Judge Ronnie Batchelor sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to the district attorney's office, Stringer "told the court that he apologizes to the victim for his actions and wished things had turned out differently."
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