A man accused of taking part in the 2021 home invasion in which another suspect killed Rhodes College student Drew Rainer pleaded guilty Monday, April 7, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said.
Rainess Holmes III was indicted in February 2022. He was charged with multiple felonies including first-degree murder, murder in the perpetration of a robbery, especially aggravated robbery, especially aggravated burglary, especially aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.
Holmes pleaded guilty to second degree murder as it related to Rainer’s killing. He also pleaded guilty to three other aggravated burglary cases. He was sentenced to 20 years, of which he has to serve the entire sentence.
Four people, including Holmes, were said to have broken into the home Rainer was in. Holmes, the DA’s office said in an email statement, was not the intruder who shot Rainer.
Drew Rainer, 22, was fatally shot during a home invasion on Oct. 3, 2021, near his school, Rhodes College.
He received three-year sentences for each of the three aggravated burglary cases, which will be served at the same time as his murder sentence, the DA’s office said.
“We are eternally grateful for the gift of Drew’s life,” the family said in a statement sent to media outlets Monday. “Drew changed the lives of all who knew and loved him. May God use our overwhelming sorrow for his glory. No sentence imposed by a court will bring Drew back, and our family will never be complete. We are, however, satisfied with the legal resolution of this case.”
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Rainer, a 22-year-old student, was killed in the early hours of Oct. 3, 2021, during a home invasion near Rhodes College. He was shot in the chest as he was trying to protect another student. That student, identified as his girlfriend by his family, was shot in the hand.
Five people, including Rainer and his girlfriend, were in the house on North McLean Boulevard when Holmes and others broke in, officials said. The intruders demanded electronics and other valuables. A stolen iPad was later tracked to the Summer Inn, on Summer Avenue.
Holmes had checked into that room, according to officials, and escaped by running into a drainage ditch. He was later arrested at a residence in Binghampton.
Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901) 208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Man charged in Rhodes College student Drew Rainer’s death pleads guilty