A sufferer of final month’s assaults within the Venice canals was declared brain-dead after a monthlong coma, sources confirmed to The Occasions on Tuesday.
Two girls had been severely overwhelmed and sexually assaulted in assaults that occurred one after the opposite on April 6 between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m., the Los Angeles County’s district legal professional’s workplace mentioned final month in a press release.
The primary assault occurred within the 2700 block of Strongs Drive when a girl was approached from behind and struck with a tough object. The second lady was attacked in an analogous method, police mentioned, lower than a mile away close to Sherman Canal.
Each girls had been alone once they had been attacked.
The girl who was declared brain-dead was reportedly visiting from Massachusetts and staying at a close-by Airbnb the night time of the assault. She has not been publicly recognized.
“We’re conscious of the tragic circumstances surrounding one of many victims of final month’s brutal sexual assaults on the Venice canals,” the district legal professional’s workplace advised The Occasions on Tuesday. “Our hearts and deepest sympathies exit to the sufferer’s household and buddies throughout this unimaginably tough time. Our workplace is evaluating how we are going to proceed to make sure the defendant is held totally accountable for his conduct.”
Final month, the district legal professional’s workplace charged Anthony Francisco Jones, 29, on a number of counts for the assaults, together with rape, torture and tried homicide.
A second sufferer, a Venice resident, was additionally badly overwhelmed. In response to a latest message posted to a GoFundMe on her behalf, she has been launched from the hospital however is unable to work for a while till she’s totally healed. The fundraiser has acquired practically $100,000 for her care.
She beforehand spoke with KTLA-5 from her hospital mattress. She mentioned her enamel had been “knocked out” and that, though the main points of the assault had been fuzzy, she remembered being on the bottom.
“I believe he was making an attempt to kill me,” she mentioned of the assailant.
The Occasions typically doesn’t establish victims of sexual assault.
Los Angeles Metropolis Councilmember Traci Park, whose district contains Venice, mentioned in a press release Tuesday that she was “devastated to obtain this information in regards to the sufferer within the horrific Venice Canals assault.”
“My prayers are along with her household on this second of loss and I need to prolong my condolences on behalf of your complete Venice and Westside communities,” Park mentioned. “Whereas nothing can reverse this horrible tragedy, I hope the household is ready to really feel solace figuring out that the perpetrator of this crime has been apprehended and justice shall be served.”
Occasions workers author David Zahniser contributed to this report.
