SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man who was armed with a handgun when he beat, choked and raped two women in San Diego on consecutive nights in 2016 was sentenced Tuesday to 100 years to life -- plus 86 years -- in state prison.
Jeremiah Ira Williams, 26, was convicted May 1 of forcible rape, sexual penetration by force, forcible oral copulation, burglary and making a criminal threat. The defendant did not attend his sentencing.
Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador told jurors that Williams followed the first victim from a parking structure to her University City apartment about 10 p.m. on Aug. 13, 2016.
Jane Doe 1 was afraid when Williams asked her "Where's your husband?" as she approached her front door, the prosecutor said. With her keys in the door, she was knocked down, robbed at gunpoint and choked to a point where she thought she was going to die, Amador said.
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Once inside the apartment, Williams beat and bloodied the victim, then raped her and forced her to take a shower before leaving, according to the prosecutor.
The next day, Williams beat and raped a woman working as a prostitute after meeting up with her at a Grantville motel, the prosecutor told the jury.
Williams got on the bed and asked Jane Doe 2, "Do you want to know what it feels like to die?" He then choked the victim until "she saw stars," then raped and sodomized her, according to Amador, who said the woman was so terrified that she broke a window and jumped through it to get away.
She didn't initially go to the hospital or tell police what happened to her because she has a criminal record, the prosecutor said.
Williams' attorney, Deputy Public Defender Thomas Bahr, told the jury that a police detective had a feeling the two sexual assaults might be connected and jumped to conclusions in an attempt to solve the initial attack.
Bahr alleged that Jane Doe 2 lied throughout the investigation and said her story was riddled with inconsistencies. She denied to a doctor that she had been sexually assaulted, then told a detective she was raped and sodomized, according to the defense attorney.
Bahr said Jane Doe 2 and two male compatriots may have been planning to rob a "john" that night at the motel.
The defense attorney also alleged that Jane Doe 2 asked a detective, "Can I sue him (Williams) for beating my (expletive)."
Bahr said Jane Doe 1 was a "true victim," yet she couldn't assist police in making a composite sketch of her attacker.
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