Suspected Rapist Ruled Out In BA Case

By Jennifer Loren, The News On 6

BROKEN ARROW, OK - There's a major setback in the case of a young Broken Arrow rape victim.  She was the five-year-old girl, sexually assaulted after she was snatched from her own front yard last year.  Broken Arrow Police say there is no forensic evidence to link their only suspect in the case to the crime.

That leaves detectives at square one.

It's been more than a year since a man kidnapped a five-year-old girl from her front yard in Broken Arrow, sexually assaulted her and dumped her eight miles away.  Investigators had little to go on as they searched for a suspect.

They had a description of the suspect's car and developed a sketch based on the little girl's memory of the horrifying incident.  Leads trickled in, but investigators were left with no real suspects.

Then, in June of this year, 25-year-old Brandon Brixey was arrested in Tulsa.  Police say he carjacked a woman and sexually assaulted her eight-year-old daughter.

Broken Arrow Police took notice, and immediately looked at Brixey as a suspect in their case.  They say the sexual assaults were similar.  And, the car Brixey had been driving matched the description of the car used in the Broken Arrow rape.  They also say Brixey looked similar to the sketch and description given by the Broken Arrow girl.  And, they say Brixey had a family member who lived very near the spot where the Broken Arrow girl was dropped off after being raped.

Investigators hoped to link Brixey to their crime through DNA evidence, but they say they cannot.

Evidence collected from Brixey's car turned up no DNA from the five-year-old Broken Arrow girl.

Investigators say they cannot rule Brixey out as a suspect.  But, they can't ask the district attorney to file charges based on circumstantial evidence.

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