The NYPD released a surveillance photo of a man they are looking for in connection with the attack.
The woman is said to be improving, but the 52-year-old victim is still intubated and unable to speak with detectives.
The suspect reportedly beat the woman beyond recognition and broke her neck after she had just dropped a child off at school and was walking to the grocery store. It happened in the vicinity of 72nd Road and Kissena Boulevard in Kew Gardens Hills
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Officials say she may also have been sexually assaulted.
Police say the woman was dragged into the outside stairwell of a nearby apartment building. Residents heard banging on the apartment door and buzzers ringing, possibly the woman trying to get help. She was found by the building superintendent.
The victim remains in critical but stable condition, and the vicious attack has the community on edge.
"I walk through every day to go to school, so it could've been me," one area resident said. "I left the house at 8:15, so 15 minutes later it happened to someone else. It's very scary."
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As detectives continue searching for clues and witnesses, women who live in the area say they'll be on guard until the person responsible is behind bars.
"I put a message on Facebook to all my friends, tagged everyone I knew in the neighborhood," one woman said. "And I said, listen, this happened in broad daylight. We've gotta be careful. It's scary."
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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