Birmingham serial rape suspect convicted of sodomizing, sexually torturing, robbing women he met on escort sites

After more than seven hours of deliberation, a Jefferson County jury on Tuesday convicted Johnathan Fitzgerald Lockett, who goes by the name Master Lockett, on multiple counts of rape, sodomy, robbery, sexual torture, and theft.

Lockett was on trial for 12 crimes – sodomy, sexual torture, rape, robbery, and theft – which took place from October 2019 through November 2020. He was convicted of five counts of sodomy, four counts of robbery, and one count each of rape, sexual torture and theft.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 16. He faces 20 years to life on the majority of the charges.

“Today’s verdict obviously proves that woman are stronger than they sometimes think and the courage of these ladies showed,’’ said Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr. “I hope this catapults any other woman out there who doesn’t think they’re being believed or worthy of showing up, that we’re here, that we believe in accountability.”

The guilty verdicts, Carr said, make Jefferson County safer.

“I would describe Master Lockett as a narcissist, as a very violent guy,’’ he said. “Finally, he will be off the streets and I thank God for that.”

Lockett showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

“Although he is disappointed with the verdict, the defendant appreciates the many hours the jury took in reaching its decision,’’ said Lockett’s attorney, Jason Wollitz. “Our system of justice only works if those who are found guilty are given the same respect and consideration as those who are found innocent. “

Prosecutors last week dismissed one of the rape charges after the victim’s testimony on the witness stand did not support the rape charge in her case. Lockett was charged with sodomizing all five victims.

The jury began deliberations about 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Jefferson County prosecutors Isabella Colombo and Julie McMakin contended the 43-year-old Lockett, a massage therapist operating under the business name Mr. Phalanges, preyed on women who were down on their luck and turned to prostitution to make ends meet.

He connected with the women through online escort websites and then violently sodomized them against their will.

Lockett and his attorney, Jason Wollitz, however, claimed the women weren’t victims, but prostitutes and drug addicts who often sought out Lockett because they knew he could provide them with drugs and went to him on a regular basis. Wollitz said his client did things that most people wouldn’t do, but said that didn’t make him a serial rapist.

Lockett testified on his own behalf and said all of the sex acts with the women were consensual.

He said he had a fetish for what he called the Triple Threat – oral sex, vaginal sex, and then anal sex. He said he suffered from erectile dysfunction and the oral sex would prepare him for the rest.

Testimony throughout the week showed Lockett stole a gun from one of his victims and used it to anally rape another victim.

Under questioning by prosecutors, Lockett said he videoed his sexual encounters with women to show it was consensual so he wouldn’t find himself in the position he is currently in – accused of rape.

“I record as proof I didn’t do nothing out of line, I didn’t force nobody to do anything,’’ he testified.

Colombo asked Lockett repeatedly if he would stop the sex act if a woman said no, and Lockett said he would.

However, prosecutors showed the jurors a video Friday morning of Lockett anally raping a woman who repeatedly pleaded for him stop. She was in obvious pain, and yelling, “Please, please, please, no, no, no.”

Lockett’s attorney argued that the video should not be shown to the jury because the woman in the video has never been identified by investigators and did not file charges against him. Because it was not of any of the five victims for which Lockett was on trial, Wollitz said it was highly prejudicial.

Circuit Judge Shanta Craig Owens allowed the video to be shown because it was being used to impeach Lockett’s testimony.

Birmingham police in November 2020 first announced the arrest of Lockett. More women came forward and Lockett was eventually indicted on roughly 30 charges involving 12 sexual assault victims.

He was only on trial this week in five of those of those 12 cases. All five of those victims have testified in this week’s trial.

Johnathan Fitzgerald Lockett, who goes by the name Master Lockett.

In an Oct. 28, 2019, attack, a victim who worked as a dancer at a gentleman’s club in Birmingham said she was struggling financially, and a friend pointed her to an escort website where she could make extra money as a sex worker.

Prosecutors say Lockett responded to her ad and eventually they agreed to meet in the 7800 block of First Avenue South in East Lake.

The victim thought they would go into the house there for their “date,” but instead Lockett took her to the back of the house. The victim told him she had a gun and that angered him, Colombo said.

He shoved her, grabbed her by the hair, and then rummaged through her purse, taking out her purple and black handgun.

The suspect then raped her both vaginally and anally, prosecutors said. The victim could be heard on a video saying, “Oh God, please no.”

In December 2019, another woman began communicating with someone who authorities said was Lockett on the Skip the Games Escort App. She was struggling with addiction and desperate for cash.

They agreed to meet on Dec. 6 in the 7800 block of First Avenue South.

When the victim arrived, the suspect told her they had to have their “date” in the garage because his family was inside the residence. She performed oral sex on him, and they engaged in consensual vaginal and anal sex.

However, a dispute arose when Lockett supposedly went over his time allotment. Prosecutors said they had previously agreed on $100 for 15 minutes.

Prosecutors said he raped her vaginally and anally, at gunpoint. He is accused of pistol whipping her and stealing her purse.

That victim was taken to the hospital where she underwent emergency eye surgery. She was left with permanent eye damage.

On April 3, another woman posted an ad about Skip the Games app at the suggestion of a friend.

Prosecutors say Lockett responded and provided her with his TextApp number. They agreed to meet, again $100 for 15 minutes, she picked him up where he directed her to an alley in East Lake.

Authorities say Lockett raped the woman vaginally and anally at gunpoint in the backseat, filming her and taking pictures of her.

When he was done, he took her cellphone and her ID and threw it. The victim was able to find her cellphone and call 911.

The fourth attack happened in July 2020.

Prosecutors say that victim, who was living out of her car, was at the Sunoco gas station on Birmingham’s east side needing parts for her car.

A man in a black Nissan Versa – Lockett – approached her and they talked. He told her he was an Uber drive and would take her to Auto Zone to get parts for her car.

While driving, allegedly Lockett told her his wife gave him money to have sex with other women, and he told the victim he likes anal sex, Colombo said.

He got into the back seat with her and raped her. They with to a second location, the prosecutor said, where Lockett sodomized the woman with the purple and black gun he stole from the earlier victim.

He left her there, taking with him her purse which contained her car keys, wallet, and cellphone.

In the fifth assault, on Nov. 2, 2020, a nail technician whose business had suffered because of COVID-19, posted an ad on Skip the Games.

Lockett responded and they agreed to vaginal sex. He picked her up and she got into the back seat, where the suspect drove her to an apartment building.

Instead of going inside, Colombo said, Lockett told her they’re going to have their “date” on the steps.

The suspect then is accused of raping her anally. Colombo said the victim was “humiliated, embarrassed, and violated,’’ and begged him to take her home.

But the suspect said he needed his car washed and took her with him.

She begged to go home and allegedly Lockett dragged her out of the car and choked her. Three people witnessed the assault and came to her aid after Lockett left.

They were able to get Lockett’s license plate number, which led investigators to the registered owner, which was Lockett’s girlfriend at the time.

A search warrant on the car turned up 10 different cellphones. A second search warrant at the apartment of Lockett and his girlfriend turned up more than 30 other cellphones, including one of the sexual assault victims.

The girlfriend, Colombo said, later gave police more evidence, which included the cellphone of another victim.

The prosecutor said analysis of Lockett’s cellphone by Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office Investigator Ben Short put Lockett’s cellphone at all five locations of the sexual assaults.

Ultimately, Jefferson County’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, also known as SAKI, helped link Lockett to all of the sex crime victims.

SAKI takes in-depth and comprehensive looks at sexual assault across the county – which includes 27 jurisdictions and two district attorney’s offices.

Short has been involved in the Lockett investigation for three years.

“This is a win for sexual assault victims across Alabama,’’ he said. “This is really what it’s all about.”

Multiple agencies contributed to the case.

“In the end, the jury got it right and community is safer because of it,’’ Short said.

“The jury believed these women and that is the most important piece of all of this,’’ he said. “These sexual assaults were believed. A lot of these victims didn’t report initially because they were worried about not being believed.’’