Rape victim of 25 years ago battling range of emotions

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A woman who was the victim of a rape 25 years ago is going through a lot of emotions.

“I cry a lot. I don’t sleep a lot," she said.

Her pain may have been buried, but it never went away.

[MORE: DNA helps CMPD arrest suspect in teen girls' 1988, 1994 sex assault cases]

Like many rape victims, she doesn’t want to be identified.

She was attacked off West Boulevard, and her case has taken 25 years to solve.

"Twenty-five years later, I feel like I'm a 17-year-old again. It's hard to sleep. It's hard to trust,” she said. “You feel like everybody has turned their back on you.”

Police said 49-year-old Zellie Edwards was taken into custody Feb. 8 for his ties to cold cases from September 1988 and April 1994.

(Zellie Edwards)

Although the victim is glad investigators solved her case, she has some harsh feelings for police, who she said were not sensitive toward her.

"I told them what happened and they kind of blamed me,” she said. "’Why were you over there in the first place? Things like that happen to people in these places.’"

Police deny that she was disrespected.

Evidence from her case was preserved, which led to a DNA hit all these years later.

It's part of a grant the department has used to test a backlog of rape kits, which has unleashed a torrent of feelings.

"You're a prisoner of your own mind in situations like this, constantly going over 'what if?' What if I wasn't there at that time? What if I didn't speak to this person? What if I wasn't friendly?" she said.

Edwards is never far from her mind, but even a trial will not resolve her pain.

"Through your mind, you are going to be sad,” she said. “You're going to cry. You are going to wonder, 'Why me?'"

Cox Media Group