A man has been arrested in a decades-old sexual assault case in Cherokee County, after DNA evidence linked him to the 1986 attack of a 19-year-old woman.
What We Know: Cherokee County deputies arrested 76-year-old Thomas Lamar Keith on Monday, March 17, 2025. Keith, who lives in Atlanta and is a registered sex offender in Fulton County, is now charged with rape and kidnapping. He is being held without bond at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.
The charges stem from an assault in January 1986. Investigators say a 19-year-old woman was closing up a convenience store on Hickory Flat Highway near Lower Scott Mill Road when she was attacked while getting into her car. She was then taken to another location, where she was sexually assaulted.
At the time, investigators collected a sexual assault kit, but DNA technology in the 1980s was not advanced enough to process it. The case remained cold for nearly four decades.
A breakthrough came when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab tested the kit and found a match in the national DNA database known as CODIS.
After the arrest, the victim, who has asked not to be identified, issued a statement thanking investigators for their persistence. “I never thought this day would ever come. I want to thank the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office and the detectives who worked this case. Thank you for never giving up. You all have restored my faith in the justice system,” she said. The victim is now in her late 50s.
Investigators are also working another sexual assault case from 1986 that has been linked to Keith through DNA evidence.
Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds called the arrest a major step toward justice. “This arrest is a huge step towards getting much-deserved justice for our victims no matter how much time has passed. We hope it brings some measure of peace to the survivor,” he said.
What We Don’t Know: Officials have not released details about the second sexual assault case connected to Keith. It’s unclear when or where the assault took place, or how investigators tied it to him.
Take Action: The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with information about cold cases or other crimes to contact their tip line. Information can be shared anonymously.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, resources are available through the Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault at www.gnesa.org or by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
⚠️ Reminder: Crime articles contain only charges and information from police reports and law enforcement statements. Suspects and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
