HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A suspected serial rapist is behind bars accused of attacking at least three women all at the same apartment complex in southwest Houston. The details of this case are so disturbing that we cannot share most of what was read in court. Prosecutors read the horrific details of seven charges against Sedrick Johnson, 20.
They say he violently robbed and raped three different women at The Mills apartments, forcing them at gunpoint into a vacant unit for the alleged assaults.
A fourth victim fought and escaped without being raped, but was seriously injured.
Prosecutors say DNA evidence from the three rape victims matches Johnson's DNA, which was in the CODIS database because it was collected while Johnson was in prison for burglary.
Crime lab supervisor Courtney Head said, "We put one case into CODIS on Friday at about noon and approximately two hours later we got a hit."
Johnson was recently paroled after serving less than half of his three year sentence and also has a prior theft conviction.
Police say the crimes happened May 20, May 22 and June 3, with two attacks occurring the same day. Three of the four victims visually identified Johnson as their attacker.
Now at The Mills apartments security walks the grounds around the clock, surveillance cameras are rolling and Houston police have a visible presence. This is new and all reassuring to residents.
Johnson's girlfriend, who would not show her face on camera, believes he is innocent.
"I know the whole time he's been with me. We don't have time to do anything. All we do is work and go home," she said. "They're not true and I have proof that they're not true because we were home at the time."
Prosecutors say what Johnson allegedly did to these women was beyond violent, calling it "inhuman."
"Very animalistic, his tendencies are very similar," said prosecutor Alison Baimbridge. "The methodology, you could say, with which he used time after time with these women, is something that a normal human couldn't fathom, so if you think someone has the audacity to treat another human with that amount of disrespect, it's something that breaks your heart. It's unimaginable."
Johnson was denied bond and given a court-appointed attorney. He goes back to court on August 2.
Police are still looking for an accomplice, who acted as a lookout. They say they have some good leads.
"Each one of those women will never forget them, they will live them in their dreams and in their nightmares forever," Baimbridge said.
Several community activists, including Quanell X, got involved by handing out flyers, which may have helped with the arrest.
Johnson lives around the corner from the apartment complex and has lived there since April.
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