Florida police say a 91-year-old woman woke up in bed to a “dark shadow” that jumped on her, beat her, and sexually assaulted her while she prayed for help. Deputies promised to find the person who did the “unimaginable violence,” and they have now caught a 14-year-old boy.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said the Reddick teen was arrested on June 17, after nine days of investigations. There was a cash prize for information that led to the suspect’s arrest.
An arrest document says that the 91-year-old woman woke up in bed on June 8 just before midnight to see a stooped figure coming down the hallway toward her bedroom.
She told police in the hospital that he jumped on her and punched her in the face when she tried to fight back. She prayed, “Dear God, please help me,” and he told her to “shut up,” she said.
According to the officers, he sexually assaulted her and tore off her underwear before leaving. She had no idea who might have attacked her, and her bedroom was dark, so she couldn’t give a clear description.
Her face was swollen and bruised, and there was blood on it when the police interviewed her in the hospital. Deputies said she told them about a boy from the neighborhood who came over and sat with her on her porch while they talked about their day before the attack.
Investigators say that boy, who was 14 at the time, was later accused of hitting her. Deputies said that while they were talking to people in the small town who lived nearby, they also talked to the boy and his legal guardian. Both of them said they were asleep at the time.
Investigators said that one of the teens’ neighbors showed them video from his security camera of someone running who looked a lot like the teen.
When deputies talked to the teen again, they didn’t see any marks on his hands. However, his guardian gave them permission to take a DNA sample from his mouth. The police sent DNA samples from the scene of the crime and from the teen to be tested, and they kept asking for help in identifying the suspect.
On June 17, police said they got lab results that showed the teen’s DNA might be on the woman’s underwear from that night. Deputies say that when they talked to the teen again, he admitted that he was the one who did it.
In the affidavit, it says that the teen is charged with sexual abuse and burglary with assault or battery as per IdahoStatesman.