veal

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — An intellectually disabled juvenile was reportedly raped within earshot of the victim’s brother.

Ulonzo Tamayo Veal, a 43-year-old resident of 346 E. Camden St. in Milledgeville, was arrested by officers with the Milledgeville Police Department after reportedly assaulting the 16-year-old girl while her brother believed she was helping him carry bait and tackle supplies, according to Milledgeville Police Department Criminal Investigations Commander Maj. Michael Hudson.

In an interview with The Union-Recorder Monday, Hudson said that during the evening of Feb. 17, MPD Officer Eugene McKinney was on patrol inside the Milledgeville city limits when the victim’s brother flagged him down. He told McKinney he and his sister had been fishing near Sinclair Dam earlier that afternoon when an unknown man, later identified as Veal, offered to help his sister cast her fishing pole. After a few minutes of speaking to the siblings, Veal reportedly told them he needed to drive to a grocery store to purchase bait but intended to come back in a few minutes. 

Upon making a stop at Walmart and returning to the dam, Veal asked the victim to help him unload the equipment from his car, and the girl followed him back to his vehicle. After what he believed to be about 15 minutes, the brother became suspicious of the pair’s continued absence and walked to Veal’s vehicle to find him reportedly sexually assaulting his sister. When the brother discovered Veal with his sister, he said he attempted to chase after him before Veal entered his vehicle and drove away. He then took his sister to a local hospital, where doctors collected data for a rape evidence recovery kit. 

After hearing the brother’s account of the incident as related to the reporting officer, MPD Detective Everett January obtained security footage from Food Depot and Walmart showing a man matching the brother’s description of the suspect at the two stores near the time of the assault. With video placing the suspect at the stores but no clues as to the man’s identity, January showed the footage to another MPD officer who recognized Veal from prior encounters. 

Five days after the incident, on the evening of Feb. 22, McKinney was patrolling North Jefferson Street near its intersection with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard when he came across a man driving a gold Buick Riviera without a license plate. Upon making contact with the driver, McKinney smelled an odor of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle and immediately recognized the man as Veal. McKinney arrested Veal for driving without a license, driving without insurance, and DUI, and transported him to the Milledgeville Police Department. The next morning, January interviewed Veal in connection with the rape from the previous week and obtained warrants for rape and aggravated sodomy in the suspect’s name. In addition to charges stemming from the rape, Veal is also charged with a misdemeanor probation violation in connection with the Feb. 22 traffic violations. 

As of press time Monday, Veal remained in the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center where he awaited an appearance before a Superior Court judge.