Cape Girardeau mother used gun against man suspected of trying to rape her daughter

The man who Cape Girardeau police say attempted to rape a teenager was forced out of her Minnesota Avenue home at gunpoint by the victim's mother, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed in the case.

Craig Kizer, 51, who has no known address, was arrested shortly after the incident that occurred around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. The woman who alerted police said she was attacked by a 180-pound man carrying a knife while she was sleeping in bed. Kizer is charged with attempted forcible rape, armed criminal action and burglary, all felonies. He's also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the teenager's mother, Kizer had been working on their home while it was being renovated. Because he was often in the home, Kizer would have had knowledge of the floor plan and known everyone who lived there, the homeowner told police.

The teenager told Cape Girardeau police officer Jason Jurgens that the man who entered the home came into her room with a knife and climbed on top of her. Kizer got distracted, she said, because he set the knife down on the bed. Once she was able to grab the knife, she said, she screamed and her mother came in the room carrying a handgun.

According to Jurgens' affidavit, the mother pointed the gun at man and yelled at him to get out. The man put his hands up and said he was leaving, the mother said.

Once Kizer was found at Montgomery and Albert streets, officers drove him back to the Minnesota Avenue home, where the mother and daughter identified him as the man who broke into their home.

Kizer has no prior convictions in Missouri, according to Casenet, and is scheduled to appear in front of a judge Thursday for his initial arraignment.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Minnesota Avenue, Cape Girardeau, MO