KALAMAZOO, MI — Nineteen years after he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in a music studio, Shawn Darnell Robinson Hopkins is headed to prison.

Following a week-long jury trial, Hopkins, now 39, was found guilty Tuesday, Nov. 26, in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual assault that caused personal injury.

Hopkins now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The victim, now 33, reported the assault to authorities the day after it happened, but charges were not authorized in the case until January 2023. Hopkins, of Kalamazoo, was arraigned in February 2023 and was bound over to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court for trial. a preliminary hearing two months later.

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A DNA profile of the suspect was created immediately, but Hopkins’ identity was not confirmed until April 2022, the attorney general’s office previously said.

Hopkins was eventually charged through the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, which was established in 2017 to address previously untested sexual assault kits and, when possible, provide solutions for victims.

“This case is another example of the extraordinary work being done on behalf of sexual assault survivors,” Kalamazoo County District Attorney Jeff Getting previously said. “No survivor should go unheard.

“I hope this case and others like it will make those who would penetrate others in the community aware that there are serious consequences for their actions.”

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The victim testified at a preliminary hearing in April 2023 that she met Hopkins through a friend just hours before the attack took place on June 17, 2005.

She knew him only as “Chicago,” one of his many aliases, according to authorities.

Hopkins, then 21, gave the girl alcohol and marijuana. Once she was intoxicated, he allegedly forced her to the floor before penetrating her, she testified.

The case was immediately investigated by the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, but Hopkins is said to have initially fled when he learned he was a suspect.

“Bringing charges in sexual assault cases requires enduring courage on the part of assault survivors and the determination of investigative teams,” Attorney General Dana Nessel said previously. “The Kalamazoo SAKI team is among the most productive cold case sex crime teams in the state and I am grateful for their tireless work that led to these charges.”

A sentencing date for Hopkins was not immediately available.

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