TMZ reports that the woman who accused St. Louis rapper Nelly of raping her on his tour bus last week is requesting that police drop the case. In a statement released by her lawyer, Karen Koehler, the alleged victim laid out her reasoning for reversing course on her prior accusation.
“Every step of the way since the time she called 911, she wishes she had not,” wrote Koehler. “Not because what happened didn’t occur exactly the way she described it. Not because she did not want the police to charge the celebrity with the alleged rape. She wishes she had not called 911 because she believes the system is going to fail her.” Her lawyer also stated that alleged victim just wants to return to school, graduate, and live a normal life, however, “This she cannot do if she remains hidden in her room, crying her heart out. One day, maybe our world will change and thirty women will not be needed to (eventually) speak out against a celebrity who has hurt them in order to be believed. But that day has not yet come.”
For his part, Nelly vehemently denied the accusations, but the resultant media attention, along with Nelly’s lawyer’s sternly-worded defense, led both his accuser and her own lawyer to state that she felt that she was being threatened and intimidated.
In the letter explaining the request to drop the case, Koehler elaborated that “She wonders who is she to go by her small ‘unimportant’ self against a celebrity. Who will believe her? People are saying horrible things already. She cannot handle this. She is about to break. She wants to close the door. She wants this to end. She just cannot bear it. And so, today she is telling the Auburn Police Department and the King County Prosecutor’s Office to put a halt to the criminal investigation of [Nelly].”
According to TMZ, prosecutors may still elect to continue to pursue the case, however, it would be “difficult” without the alleged victim’s testimony.
