After more than three decades, a DNA match finally connected a convicted rapist to the 1992 Valentine’s Day attack on Amy in Norfolk, Virginia. But just months after she felt the case had reached some kind of resolution, an automated notification told her the state parole board planned to review his case.
Anthony Favors, now 57, pleaded guilty in September 2025 to two rape charges. A judge sentenced him to 24 years in prison, ordering two 12-year terms to be served one after the other. He had initially faced six indictments, including charges of abduction and burglary.
Amy said she was stunned to learn that Favors might be considered for release. She said no one had explained why he could be eligible for parole.
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said Favors is expected to have a discretionary parole hearing in the coming months. The review stems from an earlier parole consideration tied to a separate rape conviction. Although the board did not release him then, Fatehi said, that process made another review legally possible.
Favors was serving a 60-year sentence for a different rape committed in March 1992 when DNA evidence linked him to Amy’s case in 2024. Because his crimes took place before Jan. 1, 1995, Virginia’s former sentencing rules allow the parole board to consider his release.
Fatehi described the likelihood of Favors being freed as extremely low. Even so, the prospect of a hearing has shaken Amy.
Favors attacked Amy, then an active-duty Navy sailor, at her Norfolk apartment, beating and assaulting her for hours. Despite what had happened, she went straight to her shift aboard a Navy ship afterward.
The effects of the assault have stayed with her. Amy says she lives with severe PTSD, chronic sleep loss and constant vigilance, including repeatedly checking the locks on her doors. She said she has come to recognize that some behaviors she once considered normal were responses to fear, though she still struggles with them.
“If you took the Amy before my rape and the Amy after my rape, I am two different people,” she said.
Heather Keeley, who leads the advocacy nonprofit Stand Tall, said survivors already carry the burden of their assaults. In her view, the possibility of repeated parole reviews can add to that burden by requiring victims to revisit what happened.
Keeley questioned how Favors could face a parole review so soon after receiving a 24-year sentence. Amy may have to recount the attack to the board and argue that he should remain in prison, a process she fears could undo some of the progress she has made in intensive trauma therapy.
Amy plans to ask the board to defer another review for three years, rather than require her to go through the process every year. She said she feels overwhelmed, but believes she needs to speak for herself and for other victims who cannot speak publicly.
She also worries that a release could undermine confidence in the justice system and discourage people who have experienced sexual assault from reporting it.
The Virginia Parole Board does not publish its complete hearing schedule, though it posts monthly parole decisions on its website. Favors’ attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The governor’s office was also contacted for comment.
