Suspect in brutal Queens attack confessed, police say
KEW GARDENS HILLS, Queens (WABC) -- The suspect in a brutal broad-daylight attack on a woman in Queens appeared in court Thursday, as more details are emerging about his criminal past.
Ronald Williams, 21, was arraigned and remanded. He said nothing in court, and his legal aide attorney entered a plea of not guilty.
According to the the criminal complaint, "the victim suffered from a fractured vertebrae, fractured orbital bone, possible optic nerve damage, severe facial soft tissue damage, bruising and abrasions to her hands and knees, and an injury to her head which was consistent with blunt force trauma and required four staples, and that the victim had injury to her vagina."
Prosecutors say Williams made a videotaped confession and quoted him from it as follows: "I pushed her down the stairs. I wasn't going to rape her. I don't know how her pants got pulled down..I was only going to rob her. I punched her in the face a few times. I get angry and black out sometimes."
At the defense request, the judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation.
Police say Williams beat the 52-year-old victim so badly she was unrecognizable. It happened on April 30 near 72nd Road and Kissena Boulevard in Kew Gardens Hills, after she had just dropped a child off at school and was walking to the grocery store.
Police said the woman was dragged into the outside stairwell of a nearby apartment building, where residents heard banging on the apartment door and buzzers ringing, possibly the woman trying to get help. She was found by the building superintendent.
Authorities say she may have been sexually assaulted as well.
Williams was arrested at a motel in Columbia, South Carolina, Tuesday morning.
Authorities say Williams also attacked a woman in Fordham Heights last year, but despite being charged with numerous crimes, including assault, he walked away with just probation.
"It's been proven over time that we have a very long reach and a very long memory," NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said. "I have confidence, the utmost confidence, in my detectives as well as our partners and a special thanks to the marshals for our help in that case."
Williams faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He will appear in the Bronx Friday on the probation violation.
----------
