On March 12, 2025, the Fort Wayne Police Department received a CODIS hit from the Indiana State Police Lab concerning a 1997 rape which occurred in Shoaff Park.
Fort Wayne Police Department incident report:
Date: May 20, 2025
Location: Shoaff Park, 6401 St. Joe Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Time: 2145 hours
Suspect Arrested: David Mark Kerner, 56 years of age.
Preliminary Charges:
- Rape, Level 1 Felony
- Criminal Deviant Conduct, a class A felony
- Battery with a deadly weapon, a class C felony
- Battery, a class A misdemeanor
Details/Summary:
On May 29th, 1997 at 9:45pm the Fort Wayne Police Department received a report of a rape that occurred in Shoaff Park. Officers met with the victim and began the investigation. The victim stated that she was on a trail near the boat ramp when she was grabbed from behind by an unknown suspect. She was then dragged into the weeds, where the suspect raped her and beat her at knifepoint. After the rape, the victim was seen at Parkview hospital and the Sexual assault treatment center. A sex kit was collected and was submitted to the Indiana State Police Laboratory.
On March 12th, 2025, the Fort Wayne Police Department received a CODIS hit from the Indiana State Police. The hit identified the suspect in this case as David Mark Kerner, formerly of Fort Wayne. After receiving the CODIS hit, this case was assigned to Detective Roy Sutphin of the Crimes Against Persons Section (CAPS).
Today, Detective Roy Sutphin and Detective Charles Volz went to Indianapolis, and took Kerner into custody for several charges. He was transported back to Fort Wayne and was taken to the Allen County Jail. The Fort Wayne Police Department thanks the Sexual Assault Treatment Center, the Indiana State Police and the Indianapolis Metro Police Department for their assistance in this investigation.
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
All information is preliminary and subject to change during the course of the investigation.
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