NE student abducted; suspect apprehended
by Shannon Harrison, managing editor

    Two days before spring break a tragedy occurred on NE Campus that put a student’s life in danger and put a caution out on all the campuses.

    A 20-year-old student was sexually assaulted Wednesday, March 7, when she was abducted by gunpoint at 12:30 p.m. and taken off NE Campus.

    The woman, who has not been identified, was released back on campus and later notified police.

    The woman told police she noticed the assailant sitting on a campus bench, but she did not consider him dangerous and proceeded to walk to her car near the Science Building northwest of the campus.

    “As she was about to enter her car, he came up behind her and forced her to get in,” Hurst police Sgt. Steve Moore said. “He then drove her to a remote area not far from the school and raped her,” he said.

    The woman was taken to an off-campus location near Cardinal Road.

    The man then had her drive back to the school, where he left the vehicle and entered a building, police said. She then drove to her job and reported the crime from there.

    The suspect, Byron Lawrence Graves, was apprehended in Bedford Wednesday, March 7, for a different incident and was in jail.

    Graves is currently enrolled in instructional television courses and has completed 72 hours at TCC with a 3.028 GPA.

    Apparently, later that evening, Graves had abducted his estranged wife and her roommate from their Bedford apartment. He forced the two women by gunpoint into his wife’s Mustang. When they yelled for help, a resident approached, but Graves put a gun to his head, police said. The women were put into another vehicle and taken to a Euless motel.

    Graves released his wife’s roommate after she refused to have sex with him. He told the roommate to return in an hour or he would kill his wife and himself.

    The roommate notified police. When police arrived at the Euless motel, Graves was leaving in a stolen car. He was arrested after a chase when the car stalled.

    “After Graves was arrested, his friends started to call the Hurst police station,” Moore said.

    “They thought that he might have had something to do with the rape. The next day we brought in the victim for a photo spread, and she positively identified Graves as the one who had attacked her,” he said.

    “We feel a profound sense of relief that this man has been caught,” Bill Lace, executive assistant to the chancellor, said.

    “This was a disturbing incident, and we are even more relieved that we found him before spring break. We are grateful to the Hurst police, and our campus police, in all that they have done in finding him and trying to make our campus safer,” he said.

    Graves has been arraigned at the Hurst police department on charges of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. His bond is set at $200,000.

    NE Campus police are taking measures to prevent other incidents.

    “We have beefed up patrol on the campuses, and we have put up fliers that explain what to do if a situation like this was to occur again,” Sgt. Lee Golden, NE Campus police, said.

    “We are in the process of negotiating with Tarrant County Rape and Crisis Center to come out and give a seminar for those interested in hearing it,” he said. “We are doing everything we can to get the word out.”