30-04-2025
DNA match solves 33-year-old rape case, brings new conviction for incarcerated Norfolk man
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A man already serving a decades-long sentence for a 1992 rape has pleaded guilty to another rape committed just a month earlier, following new DNA evidence uncovered through a state-backed cold case initiative.
Anthony Favors, 55, pleaded guilty Tuesday, April 15, in Norfolk Circuit Court to two counts of rape stemming from a February 1992 assault that had remained unsolved for more than 30 years. The breakthrough came thanks to the Virginia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), a grant-funded program that targets the backlog of untested physical evidence recovery kits (PERKs) from unsolved sexual assault cases.
Favors is currently serving a 60-year sentence for a separate rape and robbery he committed in March 1992. With this new plea, he now faces up to 40 additional years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for July 18.
According to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, on Feb. 15, 1992, Favors entered a woman's apartment on Lankford Avenue through a damaged door that would not lock. He raped the woman twice and forced her to perform oral sex before briefly leaving the apartment — only to return minutes later, apparently to ensure she had not alerted authorities. After he left a second time, the woman fled, armed herself with a knife, and drove to Naval Station Norfolk to report the attack.
A sexual assault exam was performed, and evidence containing the suspect's DNA was preserved. However, forensic technology at the time was not advanced enough to identify the perpetrator. The case went cold, and Favors remained unidentified until the PERK was retested in 2022 under the SAKI program.
The renewed investigation matched the DNA to Favors, whose genetic profile had been entered into national databases following his arrest for the March 1992 assault. Investigators obtained a new DNA sample from Favors and confirmed the match. They also verified that he bore a distinctive scar described by the February 1992 victim — a key detail she remembered despite being unable to identify her attacker at the time.
Favors ultimately confessed to the 1992 assault and admitted he had long anticipated it might catch up with him.
Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi commended the perseverance of the survivors and the effectiveness of the SAKI program in finally bringing resolution to the case.
'I express my sympathy to the survivors of Mr. Favors' rapes,' Fatehi said in a statement. 'The justice system cannot undo harm or fix systemic problems, but… it can offer closure, reassurance, and finality.'
Favors' earlier case, which resulted in his current imprisonment, involved breaking into a woman's home, assaulting her, and attempting to force her to withdraw cash from an ATM. They caught the attention of passersby on the way to the ATM which caused him to flee that scene. The victim then ran to a neighbor's home to call the police, and he was caught shortly afterward.
As a result of that investigation and the victim's direct visual identification of Favors following his arrest, Favors was charged with and pleaded guilty to rape, robbery, and burglary with the intent to commit rape. Favors was sentenced in that case to serve 60 years in prison with another 40 years suspended.
The SAKI program, led by the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia, continues to test and review unprocessed kits from past decades, with the goal of securing justice in long-dormant cases.
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