A Shreveport man accused of raping a woman in the summer of 2017 was convicted Wednesday, February 13, 2019, in Caddo District Judge Katherine Dorroh’s courtroom.
The seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated about an hour before returning with a unanimous verdict that Kenny Ray McKnight, 25, entered the bedroom of a juvenile female relative on July 19, 2017, and sodomized her before leaving the scene. Charged with second-degree rape, a felony, he faces imprisonment at hard labor for five to 40 years, the first two of which must be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
However, when McKnight returns to face Judge Dorroh on February 28, 2019, the state plans to file a habitual offender bill against him, allowing for enhanced penalties. McKnight has a prior 2010 conviction for misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a 13-year old juvenile victim, as well as a prior felony conviction in 2013 for simple burglary and a prior felony conviction in 2014 for illegal possession of a stolen firearm.
Assistant District Attorneys Nancy Berger-Schneider and Jason Waltman represented the state in the trial, which began Monday, February 11, 2019. McKnight was represented by David McClatchey.