Kriti Mehrotra
Although Vanessa Gay has long maintained that she was one of the women Anthony Edward Sowell brutalized in his home during his reign of terror in the 2000s, she never got justice. He was indicted on 84 charges related to murder, attempted murder, rape, attempted rape, abuse of a corpse, and more when he was ultimately apprehended in late 2009, yet the former’s case wasn’t part of it. However, she has since gotten to share her story as she testified against him at his trial before opening up in productions like A&E’s ‘I Survived a Serial Killer: The Cleveland Strangler.’
Addiction Gripped Vanessa Gay When She Was In Her Early 30s
A proud native of Cleveland, Ohio, Vanessa Gay reportedly grew up in an affectionate, ordinary, supportive environment, surrounded by relatives, neighbors, and community villagers. She thus led a good life despite some roadblocks and even attended Cuyahoga Community College, but everything turned upside down when she met the man who eventually went on to become her husband. According to her own account in the aforementioned episode, “That’s where I started to use drugs. That’s where crack (cocaine) entered into my story. I was in my 30s when I smoked it.”
Vanessa claimed she knows she started letting everybody down – including herself – the moment she began getting high and prioritizing a hit over spending time with friends or family. Yet, she added, she couldn’t bring herself to stop; instead, she admittedly fell deeper into a spiral as she found solace in the very substances affecting who she used to be. “My life became a nightmare,” she candidly stated. “One day, I just left home because I didn’t know how to turn my life back around,” and return to all those she’d hurt along the way.
Vanessa Gay Was Lured By Anthony Edward Sowell Under the Promise of Drugs
It had been roughly a year since Vanessa had been home when she encountered Anthony Edward Sowell on Imperial Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood in September 2008. As per her account, she was just walking around the area when he approached, started a conversation, and said it was his birthday – something she later learned was a lie. She claimed he seemed sincere as he alleged he had no one to celebrate with before asking if she would be interested in joining him to do so at his home with some crack, weed, and drinks.
Anthony’s calm demeanor and the promise of getting high made Vanessa say yes, she once revealed, following which their casual, open conversations made her drop her guard a little. According to her statements, as they walked to his home nearby, he told her about his family, his military background, and how much he loved to cook, all the while locals greeted him politely. The entire situation made her think he was a man of good standing, she said, so she didn’t pay much heed to the negative intuition she had the moment she walked into his front door. “You could just feel the thickness of dread in the air,” the then-34-year-old recalled on the show. “As we walked in, he put all the locks back on the door. It was just like lock after lock after lock.”
Vanessa has admitted that she did briefly think she should turn around, leave, and never look back, but then she rather naively thought, “You know, what’s the worst that can happen?” She alleged there was also a horrid smell in the air that threw her off, yet she soon noticed several boxes of food lining up his entire staircase, so she stopped thinking too much about it. The duo reportedly went to his bedroom, where their conversations continued for about 15 more minutes before she brought up when they were going to start smoking, and his demeanor changed. She claimed he punched her right in the face, ordered her to take off her clothes, told her she “didn’t deserve what’s about to happen,” and then proceeded to horrifically beat as well as rape her.
Vanessa Gay Was Willingly Let Go By Anthony Edward Sowell
There was a point during that fateful evening when Vanessa allegedly wondered if she was going to die because, as per her accounts, that’s how badly Anthony was abusing and assaulting her. She claimed he forced himself on her several times throughout the night, only for her to eventually pray and disassociate until she couldn’t feel the pain of his brutal actions anymore. Therefore, it was in the morning that she gathered the courage to ask him if she could go to the bathroom, which he allowed without issue as a reward because she had not fought him. The young woman had no idea she would catch a glimpse of another room on her way to the toilet, where she would allegedly see the remains of decapitated women wrapped in white plastic sheets.
The sight of what Anthony was possibly capable of terrified Vanessa even more, she once said, yet she still managed to hide her fears and pretend she was okay when she returned to his room. She added it was her unwavering submissiveness in the hours to follow that ultimately calmed him down, making him directly ask her what he should do with her. That’s when she reportedly told him she wouldn’t go to the police, say anything about what happened between them, or ever even return to his house if he lets her go. According to her statements, he went quiet for a while before suddenly ordering her to get dressed, walking her downstairs, and simply letting her go, throughout which she kept her composure.
Vanessa Gay Was Left Shattered by the Police’s Response to Her Call For Help
“The sunlight hit me, but I couldn’t run,” Vanessa claimed in the A&E episode. “… I didn’t looke back. (Anthony) might have been behind me. It seemed like, if I looked back, he gonna kill me.” The idea that he would change his mind and come after her made her keep going, she continued, yet anothing aspect to hurt her in those moments was the realization that nobody nearby cared. She alleged she was visibily fighting to stay alive but recieved no help from passerbys, and then her attempt to contact t he police using a payphone didn’t pan out either. She relayed what had occoured, she claimed, only for them to tell her she had to come down to the local station if she wanted to file a report and that’s what broke her.
“I never felt that disposable,” Vanessa said on the show, referring to how she was spoken to in that phone call to the authorities. “I felt less than human at that point. I felt like it…I survived, and it’s now my problem because nobody’s gonna do anything anyway.” Hence, she didn’t speak about the alleged ordeal again until more than a year later, when she came across the news of his October 31, 2009, arrest. His apprehension not only stemmed from the report filed by survivor Latundra Billups (whom he had let go in September 2009) but also brought to light the fact that he was a serial killer. A search warrant executed at his home led to the recovery of 11 remains, all of whom were women and had been strangled to death, earning him the moniker of The Cleveland Strangler.
Vanessa Gay Continues to Grapple With What Transpired and Its Complex Aftermath
Vanessa did not take the decision to come forward lightly, but she knew she had to say something if it would help bring Anthony to justice and ensure he could never harm anyone again. However, she didn’t realize what it would personally cost her – while she was cooperative and told officials every detail of her alleged experience, she was also asked to return to that Imperial Avenue house for a walkthrough. As if that’s not enough, it was after she had already testified against the serial killer at his 2011 trial that she learned her case was not even a part of the charges against him and would not be added either. In the months and years to follow, she was angry at the system over how she did not get the justice she believed she deserved, even with Anthony having been sentenced to death.
According to one of Vanessa’s childhood friends, in an interview with Cleveland.com, her drug addiction sadly got worse after the alleged September 2008 ordeal and its aftermath. Marketta McGee also asserted that the alleged survivor received no aid from the authorities or the system, even though they were happy to have her testify against Anthony so as to make their case solid. “She needed psychological, physical, and mental support to get her back to where she could understand her new norm,” she said. “…I think they took what they needed from her and left her to handle the rest of her life by herself.”
Unfortunately, as a result, Vanessa grappled with suicidal ideations for years and even landed in jail for 6 months for a probation violation because she missed a check-in while waiting on a bed in rehab. Thankfully, since then, it appears as if the 52-year-old has managed to turn over a new leaf, embrace her second chance at life, and even spread her wings to evolve into an addiction/mental health advocate. The Cleveland, Ohio, native also seems to have reconnected with her loved ones over time, who are more than happy to be her support system and help her find her inner light and positivity during dark days.
Read More: David McVicker: Where is the Freeway Killer’s Survivor Now?
You must be logged in to post a comment.