Man sentenced to life for kidnapping, sexual assault, and high-speed chase

ATLANTA - An Atlanta man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after a DeKalb County jury found him guilty of kidnapping a 20-year-old woman, sexually assaulting her, and leading police on a high-speed chase.

Jurors on Thursday convicted Evariuel Martez Billings, 44, of kidnapping, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, sexual battery, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer for a felony offense. 

The backstory:

The charges stem from an Aug. 1, 2023, incident in which the victim was abducted while waiting in her car outside an auto repair shop on Shirley Drive in Atlanta.

According to prosecutors, the victim was sitting in a parked Volkswagen Jetta with the windows down, waiting for her boyfriend and a friend, when Billings approached and asked to use her phone. After she refused, he became agitated. Trying to defuse the situation, the woman eventually handed over her phone.

Billings responded by saying he didn’t want the phone, then opened the car door, shoved the victim into the passenger seat, and drove off, ignoring her pleas to be released. He questioned her about her age and who she was waiting for, and threatened to kill her if she answered calls from her boyfriend, who was repeatedly trying to reach her.

At one point, Billings forced the woman to look up pornography on her phone, and during that time, she managed to answer one of the incoming calls and cry out for help. Throughout the ordeal, she also discreetly shared her location multiple times with her boyfriend.

Prosecutors said Billings sexually assaulted the victim multiple times and grew increasingly aggressive as more calls came through. While driving, he forced the woman to perform oral sex as he watched porn on her phone.

Doraville Police were eventually able to track the vehicle and began a pursuit. Billings sped up, driving erratically and telling the victim he planned to crash and kill them both. After a 12-minute chase, an unmarked Doraville unit executed a PIT maneuver to disable the car.

Even after the crash, Billings told the victim he would kill her if she tried to escape. Officers pulled him from the vehicle and arrested him more than two and a half hours after the abduction began. Both Billings and the victim sustained minor injuries.

What they're saying:

DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney L. Johnson sentenced Billings to two consecutive life sentences without parole, plus 31 additional years and a $10,000 fine, immediately following the guilty verdict.