From left: Assistant District Attorney Trina Davidson Brooks, Detective Lt. Ramirez Ivy, victim survivor Amber Quick. Credit: West Point Police
On July 19, Nashreda Strong-Clay stood next to Detective Lt. Ramirez Ivy as he announced the West Point Police Department (Mississippi) finally knew the name of the man suspected of attacking and raping Strong-Clay 19 years earlier.
On Monday, just over a month later, Ivy found himself in an eerily similar position. While the survivor standing next to him was a different woman, the suspect was the same—Frederick Fitzgerald Gandy.
Gandy has already been charged with burglary, rape, attempted murder and attempted armed robbery for the Jan. 8, 2003 attack on Strong-Clay, and now he will be charged with the rape of Amber Quick.
Quick’s rape occurred the night of July 7 or the early morning hours of July 8, 2003. Meanwhile, Strong-Clay’s attack occurred four or five hours later, according to Ivy. In fact, it was Strong-Clay’s case that moved Quick’s case forward.
While investigating the attack on Strong-Clay, Detective Raven Ross discovered there was another rape victim that night. Ross found the victim—who had since relocated—dug up new information and found old DNA evidence that the detective then sent to a private crime lab for testing.
“After going through the legal process, getting a search warrant and submitting evidence, we produced Frederick Fitzgerald Gandy again as a suspect,” Ivy said. “[Quick is] another survivor.”
Ivy said they knew Ross had generated a lead on a similar case right before the July 19 press conference announcing the arrest of Gandy for Strong-Clay’s rape, but they didn’t immediately know it was the same suspect.
The way Quick’s case unfolded is incredibly similar to that of Strong-Clay. For both, the key was untested DNA from the original crimes that, due to modern advancements, could now be tested and linked to Gandy through CODIS.
Strong-Clay had reached out to the West Point Police Department several times over the years about reopening her case. When Strong-Clay asked again this spring, Ivy jumped on it. Three months later, they arrested Gandy. One month after that, they tied him to another cold case rape.
“Detective Ivy is a hero in this situation. It’s very easy in this situation to say, ‘they didn’t do a good job back then, they didn’t leave me with much, I’m going to move on. I have enough I am dealing with right now.’ But the steps he took, the time he took, the dedication he had to treat this survivor in a way where he could do everything he could to try to get justice, I am confident we can get a conviction because of [this],” said Scott Colom, 16th Circuit District Attorney.