I have no political axe to grind, no agenda to push and no particular opinion one way or another. I simply have a question: Is it important to his recounting of the story to emphasize that a "white woman" carried his fate? Would the story have the same impact if he simply said "victim"?
The cops wouldn't have revealed the witness's race. The author likely didn't actually know who actually gave the cops the description that matched his.
[Edit: grammar]