Three Jamaica men were sentenced for their roles in a violent attack against a woman who was walking home from church in July 2017, prosecutors announced Thursday.
The defendants were Julisses Ginel and Isaiah Shorter, both 21, and Justin Williams, 20, were residents of a group home on South Road. Ginel pleaded guilty last month to first-degree robbery and late yesterday was sentenced 10 years in prison, to be followed by 2½ years’ post release supervision.
Shorter pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual act and was sentenced late yesterday to 12 years in prison, to be followed by 10 years’ post release supervision. Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual act for the July 2017 attack and he also pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery for holding up a man at gunpoint and stealing his cell phone on June 26, 2017. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on the sex assault and 15 years for the robbery, which will run concurrently, and 10 years’ post release supervision.
A fourth defendant, 22-year-old Brandon Walker, of Jamaica, pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal sexual act in connection to the July 2017 attack in March 2019. On April 3, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Shorter, Williams and Walker are also required to register as sex offenders.
“This was an horrific crime. The victim was humiliated and degraded by these men, who were barely out of their teens,” said acting District Attorney John M. Ryan. “In pleading guilty, the defendants admitted to their vile actions and will be locked away to punish them as well as to protect the residents of this county. I am hopeful that with this final court appearance, the victim in this case can put this awful experience behind her and find some solace in knowing the young men who violated her will be locked away for a very long time.”
According to charges, at around 10:30 p.m. on July 11, 2017, a 50-year-old woman was walking home from Celestial Church of God and was near 150th Street and Beaver Road when she was stopped by Williams. Williams, who appeared to have a firearm, demanded money from the victim, and she dumped the contents of her bag on the ground.
Williams took the victim’s Metrocard and cellphone, and Walker approached the scene and demanded the woman take off her clothes. Fearing her life, the victim complied and Walker demanded that she perform oral sex on himself and Williams.
According to charges in the June 2017 robbery, Williams and another unapprehended man approached a 50-year-old man on Liverpool Street. Williams displayed a firearm and he and the other man demanded money from the victim.
When the victim refused, the two men hit him in the face, causing the victim to fall to the ground and suffer a punctured lung. Williams and the other man stole the victim’s cellphone after he fell.
