An Arkansas man was arrested last week in connection with the separate rapes of two women who got into his car when he offered them a ride a year ago in Springfield.
Khiry DeWayne Hart, 33, of Gurdon, Arkansas, faces multiple charges of rape, sodomy, assault and kidnapping. He was arrested March 28 and is in the Greene County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
In both alleged rapes, the reported victims told police the assailant took videos of them during the assault. According to court documents, Hart's iCloud account “contains videos of Hart having sex with multiple women, frequently in a vehicle.”
The data from what police say is Hart's phone, according to court documents, matches the times and locations of where and when the women say they were raped.
According to documents, Hart was visiting friends in Springfield in April 2023 and was driving his aunt's car.
One reported victim was 18, other was 22
The first alleged rape occurred April 4, 2023, when an 18-year-old woman was walking near Glenstone and Kearney at about 10:35 p.m.
A man, allegedly Hart, pulled over and asked her if she needed a ride. She said yes; she was going to a friend's nearby residence.
Instead, the driver allegedly drove her to a secluded area near the intersection of Paragon and Prospect (near National Avenue) and told her to get into the back seat. He then told her to lift up her shirt as he took a video. She did so while covering her face. He then allegedly raped her outside the vehicle.
He then drove her to the location where she wanted to go. She went to the hospital; a sexual assault kit was used for testing.
The second alleged rape occurred four days later, April 8, 2023.
At 4:20 a.m. that Saturday morning, Greene County deputies responded to a report of a terrified woman knocking on doors seeking help.
They found the woman and also found a 2006 Hyundai Sonata abandoned near the intersection of Highways AB and EE, west of the Springfield-Branson International Airport. The car had a mechanical problem and was still running.
This car, according to police, was consistent with the description of the car involved in the first rape. It is owned by Hart's aunt in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. She told police her nephew, Hart, was using the car in Springfield.
She took the ride because she feared a different man was following her on foot
This second reported rape victim, 22, told police she was walking in Springfield and was at the Kum & Go at Glenstone and Grand, where she asked a man if she could use his phone. The man offered to drive her to where she wanted to go; she declined. She left the Kum & Go on foot.
While walking, she noticed a man following her on foot, according to court documents.
Then a different man, whom police believe to be Hart, drove up and offered her a ride. She accepted. The reported victim told police she had seen this second man minutes earlier at the Kum & Go.
According to court documents:
“She soon realized he was not taking her where she wanted to go, so when they pulled into a parking lot, she tried to get out of the Hyundai. The male sped up and grabbed Victim 2’s leg to hold onto her. He grabbed her throat, told her to “shut the (expletive) door,” and proceeded to punch her in the head.
“The physical assault left her with injuries, so she pretended to be unconscious to stop the assault. The male apologized for assaulting her and said he was taking her to his hotel to take care of her. While he drove, he grabbed her head and kept it under his arm with her face pressed down on the center console. She noticed that his vehicle was running with no key inserted in the ignition. The suspect offered her a Gatorade to wash the blood out of her mouth.”
He allegedly drove to the area of Sunshine and Oak Grove where he allegedly raped her. The reported victim told police that he then drove her to a rural area.
According to court documents:
“He had her bend over without her pants on, and she noticed some flashes which led her to believe the suspect was taking photos of her.”
According to court documents, he raped her again.
Cops look at Kum & Go video, as well as license-plate readers
Soon after, the car broke down. The reported victim escaped to a nearby residence as the suspect called someone on the phone.
Police received permission to search the car and found paperwork with Khiry Hart's name, according to court documents, a broken key in the ignition, and a Gatorade bottle.
Police reviewed video from the Kun & Go which, according to court documents, “showed a male who appeared to be Khiry Hart pull up to pumps, enter the store, and purchase a drink that appeared to be Gatorade.”
Investigators checked city Flock cameras, which read license plates, and captured a record of the same vehicle going westbound on Chestnut Expressway at Kansas Expressway at a time consistent with Victim 2's account of what happened during the assault, according to court records.
Victim 2 was shown photos of several men and, according to court documents, initially picked a photo of someone other than Hart, but then quickly said she was wrong and picked Hart's photo.
Hart has an extensive criminal history in Arkansas, according to court documents.
It “shows multiple previous arrests for charges such as domestic battering, terroristic threatening, disorderly conduct, fleeing, forgery, failure to appear, theft by receiving, possession of controlled substances, false imprisonment, battery, public order crimes, and traffic charges.”
d him for a ride to a nearby residence at about 10:35 p.m.