Woman found beaten, bloodied inside Houston mall bathroom
HOUSTON, Texas -- Police in Texas are searching for a man who carried out a brutal attack inside a mall bathroom that left a woman beaten and bloodied.
The incident happened Sunday Morning in the Memorial City Mall in Houston.
A change in morning exercise plans because of the weather led Ashley Hill to the mall, where she took a restroom break around 8:30 a.m. What she saw next is a vision she can't get out of her head: A woman face down in a pool of blood near the sinks, moaning for help.
"She was missing at least one or more teeth," Hill said. "She was bleeding from every side of her head I could see, out of her ears. She was in really bad shape."
Houston police said the 31-year-old victim was approached from behind by a man who had made a rope from a trash bag and wrapped it around her neck, choking her until she lost consciousness. They also say the victim was repeatedly kicked.
"It looked like a commercial trash bag liner," Hill said. "She had some consistent marks on her neck that maybe that was used on her. Horrible."
The good Samaritan said the victim told her she worked at the mall and had tried screaming for help, but noise from a nearby hockey practice at the mall ice rink may have drowned her cries out. She also said the victim indicated she didn't know the man, nothing had been taken from her, and she didn't believe she had been sexually assaulted.
"Something is driving a lot of rage inside someone to hurt someone that bad," Hill said.
She stayed with the victim at the hospital until her family arrived.
Police say the suspect ran out of the mall and through the parking lot before getting away on a METRO bus.
Investigators have not released a description of the suspect.
"I would ask that everybody try to keep this woman in their prayers and a speedy recovery," Hill said.
She said she's been in touch with the victim's family and that the woman was transferred to the main medical center and has been in surgery for a broken jaw.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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