FORT WORTH, Texas — The City of Fort Worth is facing a major backlog at its crime labs leaving more than 700 sexual assault cases unsolved.
Latrice Godfrey is speaking out after being sexually assaulted two years ago.
One of her female friends asked a male acquaintance to make sure Latrice got home safely after they left a metro area nightclub. Instead, she says he took advantage of her. Now, as a victim of rape, Latrice refuses to stay quiet.
“I have to speak out for myself. I have to speak up for others,” said Latrice Godfrey, “I reported it immediately."
Fort Worth police arrested her accused attacker and submitted DNA to their Crime Lab. The Tarrant County District Attorney submitted the case to the grand jury which returned with an indictment.
While awaiting trial Latrice told WFAA that the Assistant District Attorney assigned to her case went on maternity leave. The attorney representing her accused attacker filed motions to dismiss the case at least twice due to lack of a speedy trial submission to the court, according to Godfrey.
Still, she waited months before going online to find out why results from the Fort Worth Police Crime Lab were still pending.
“I've seen that there was a backlog from 2018," Godfrey said.
She knew immediately that missing DNA Crime Lab testing on her accused attacker would impact her case.
"They choose to go with prosecutor discretion. She said that the consent law here in Texas is I needed more than just my no. So, my no didn't really mean no," Godfrey said. "So I can say no. But in the law, I needed to have had to been beaten, threatened or what have you to make it stick."
Without making excuses, Police Chief Neil Noakes took the blame for the backlog and vowed to fix it.
When Chief Noakes was promoted to the city's top cop position the crime lab backlog was one of the major issues he inherited. Noakes shared correction plans for the major backlog during a second presentation to City Council members.
“I'm not going to try to make excuses," Chief Neil Noakes said. “We had a lot of the issues early on with the crime lab to be quite frank, goes back several years. We had a change in leadership with the lab that has started improving the way things are being done.”
One of the most vocal city leaders about sexual assault victims not getting the justice they deserve has been Fort Worth Councilwoman Elizabeth Beck. Although many law enforcement agencies across the country face the same backlog challenges, Beck stressed it's just not a good look for one of the fastest-growing cities in the country.
Councilwoman Beck supports the city giving Chief Noakes every tool possible to improve crime lab services and tackle the backlog. Especially for the victims whose cases depend on timely results.
"It's definitely a blemish on the City of Fort Worth that we allowed this to happen to so many women across our community," Beck said.
Fort Worth's Police Crime Lab had 898 overdue cases in October 2024. That number has since dropped to 708 cases.
In the case involving Godfrey, her accused attacker demanded a speedy trial. But with no crime lab results and trial delays, the case was dismissed leaving Godfrey with many questions.
“Why are we not prosecuting these offenders? Why isn't the DA not taking accountability, even me speaking to the chief of their sexual assault unit? There was no accountability," Godfrey said.
Chief Noakes promises accountability moving forward such as contracting with the medical examiner on new lab cases, hiring additional lab workers, and contacting the hundreds of rape victims like Godfrey whose cases are backlogged.
Chief Noakes also told council members his detectives will now be held accountable for keeping in contact with victims and updating them on their cases.
Godfrey wants better accountability not just when it comes to the crime lab and police, but also when it comes to hearing from the District Attorney's Office. She attended the work session at City Hall to listen as Chief Noakes gave his list of changes to council members.
“I would just say I'm sorry and we will do better," Chief Neil Noakes said.
“So, what do I do? I can't do nothing but fight to make sure this doesn't happen to another person," Godfrey said.
