Lavinia B. Masters

Lavinia B. Masters | Special Courage Award
Hope S.A.V.E.S. Ministry
Lewisville, Texas

Lavinia B. Masters is a 48-year old married mother, victim advocate, and a survivor who inspires hope wherever she goes through HOPE S.A.V.E.S. Ministries. She was brutally raped at knifepoint by a stranger who broke into her Dallas home when she was 13 years old. 

DNA testing was not available then, so Ms. Masters’ rape kit—evidence collected at the hospital—sat idle for 20 years. Then in 2005, the Dallas Police Department started a cold case program, following Congressional passage of the Debbie Smith Act in 2004, providing more than a billion dollars to improve DNA testing procedures and reduce the backlog of rape kits. 

Ms. Masters said she “was disheartened to know that her case was still sitting on that shelf,” and she asked Dallas Police Sergeant Patrick Welsh to reopen her case. Subsequently, the police discovered a DNA match to a man who was already serving prison time for unrelated sexual assault convictions. However, the suspect in Ms. Masters’ case could not be prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired. 

From there, she tirelessly pursued the justice she had been denied—a fight which culminated in a heroic triumph over the Texas rape kit backlog, known as The Lavinia Masters Act of 2019. The law aims to prevent a backlog of rape kits; prohibit the premature destruction of kits; and lengthen the statutes of limitations for certain crimes. Ms. Masters does this work because she understands that having an untested rape kit, for any amount of time can impact a victim’s recovery. 

Ms. Masters was able to take her power back from her rapist, and she encourages law enforcement to understand that “these are lives that are sitting on those [DNA backlog] shelves.” After her law was passed in Texas last year, Ms. Masters said, “I pray that I can encourage other victims to see the power they have to become an advocate for others.”