A 21-year-old man was held without bail on Thursday after being charged with brutally attacking and sexually assaulting a Queens woman, authorities said. The charges came as more details emerged about the victim’s extensive injuries.
Ronald Williams, who prosecutors said is homeless, fled to South Carolina following the attack and was arrested on an unrelated probation violation there on Tuesday, according to police and the Queens District Attorney’s office.
Williams was accused of following and severely beating a 52-year-old woman in broad daylight, waiting until just after she dropped her son off at school, according to prosecutors. He allegedly dragged her to an outdoor stairwell just after 8 a.m. April 30 in Kew Garden Hills, where he beat and sexually assaulted her.
The woman was found in the outdoor stairwell about 30 minutes later. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said in a statement that she was beaten so badly “she was unrecognizable.
“No one should have to worry about fending off a sexual attack on the streets of our county at any time of the day or night,” Brown said. “Despite the defendant’s efforts to escape justice, he was fortunately apprehended and will now stand accountable for this horrific crime.”
The attack left the woman unconscious and unable to speak to investigators for days. According to prosecutors, she suffered a fractured vertebrae in her neck and a fractured orbital bone, and needed four staples in her head for an injury consistent with blunt force trauma.
Williams was arraigned on Thursday in Queens Criminal Court and held without bail, charged with first-degree assault, first-degree sexual abuse and first-degree unlawful imprisonment, according to the DA’s office. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 8.
If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
An attorney for Williams declined to comment.
