UPDATED July 24, 9:40 a.m.
The fourth man allegedly involved in the robbery and sexual assault of a 50-year-old woman in Jamaica earlier this month is now behind bars, police said.
Isaiah Shorter, 20, was picked up on July 21 for his alleged role in the July 11 incident. According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, he worked with three previously arrested suspects — Brandon Walker, 20; Justin Williams, 17; and Julisses Ginel, 19, all residents of South Road in Jamaica.
“The crimes that [Shorter] and his three companions are accused of committing that night are despicable and are deserving of significant punishment,” Brown said in a statement.
Police said the victim was walking home from the nearby Celestial Church of God, located on Liberty Avenue, at about 11:10 p.m. on July 11 when she was approached by two of the four suspects in the vicinity of 150th Street and Beaver Avenue. After they displayed firearms, authorities said, they led her into a nearby lot, where the other two perpetrators joined them.
According to law enforcement sources, the suspects ordered the woman to remove her clothes. One of the attackers grabbed her purse and removed its contents. Prosecutors said Walker and Williams allegedly forced the woman to perform sex acts on them; Ginel allegedly threatened to shoot her if she didn’t comply with their request.
Brown said that Walker, Williams and Ginel allegedly robbed three men at gunpoint the following evening, at about 10 p.m. on July 12, in front of a location on 105th Avenue between Sutphin Boulevard and 148th Street.
Walker, Williams and Ginel were each arrested on July 13 as a result of an investigation that the NYPD Queens Special Victims Squad conducted. They were each ordered held on $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash bail and are scheduled to return to court on July 28; if convicted, they could each spend up to 25 years behind bars.
Shorter, meanwhile, was arraigned on Friday night on charges of first-degree charges of criminal sexual act and sexual abuse. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail and to return to court on July 28. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
