Kalamazoo SAKI secures convictions in 2010 sexual assaults

Last week, the Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) obtained two convictions against Jamaal Vincent, 39, of Kalamazoo, for the sexual assaults of two unrelated victims in 2010, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Vincent pled no contest to one count of 1st degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC) and one count of 2nd degree CSC.

These convictions stem from a SAKI investigation into a 2009 sexual assault perpetrated by Vincent for which a jury convicted him in September of 2021 and he received a sentence of 25-50 years imprisonment. During that investigation, the Kalamazoo SAKI Team discovered that Vincent had also sexually assaulted two unrelated females in 2010. One victim, assaulted in January of 2010, was 20 years old at the time, the other, assaulted in the summer of that same year, was then 12 years old and living with her mother who was dating Vincent. Both of the 2010 victims testified in Vincent’s 2021 trial that resulted in his initial conviction.

Sentencing agreements accompanied each of last week's pleas, with the defendant agreeing to a sentence of 20-40 years for the 1st degree CSC and 8-15 years for the 2nd degree CSC. Sentences for all convictions will be served concurrently.

“The convictions obtained by our SAKI units on these cold cases show sexual assault survivors in Michigan that justice is attainable and worth pursuing,” said Nessel. “I am grateful for the work of the Kalamazoo SAKI prosecutors and thank our courageous victims who step forward to hold predators accountable.”

“These convictions of Jamaal Vincent are a great example of what prosecutors know to be true, and want other people to realize. The people who commit sexual assault usually don’t stop with just one victim,” said Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting. “Far too often the prosecution of cold case sexual assaults start with one case and end up with additional victims. Jamaal Vincent will be spending decades in prison thanks to the courage of the survivors who came forward and bravely stood up to him.”

Vincent continues to be incarcerated by the Michigan Department of Corrections as a result of his 2021 convictions on two counts of 1st degree CSC. He will be sentenced in the 9th Circuit Court on July 10.

These represent the 15th and 16th convictions obtained by the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Imitative which seeks to offer victims an opportunity to seek justice and hold offenders accountable for previously uncharged sexual assaults. The Kalamazoo SAKI is a collaborative project of the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office and the YWCA of Kalamazoo. The Kalamazoo SAKI Team is in the process of investigating approximately 225 cold-case sexual assaults that occurred in Kalamazoo County between 1976 and 2015.