A man suspected of attacking a woman as she walked with her newborn baby in Brentwood now faces charges of sexual assault and battery, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
Abraham Shily is said to have approached the woman while pushing her 1 month old daughter in a stroller through a residential area, walking near Gretna Green Way and Mayfield Avenue during the early evening of July 16.
He then “proceeded to sexually and physically abuse her,” the Public Prosecution Service said in a statement.
According to police, she was seriously injured in the attack.
Shily, 26, is charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, one felony count of sexual battery, one felony count of child abuse other than serious bodily injury or death and one misdemeanor count of unlawful imprisonment.
The attack occurred around 4:30 p.m. when Shily grabbed the victim from behind and “simulated sexual activity” while making physical contact, the LAPD said in a news release.
She tried to fight off the shirtless man, but then the attack became even more violent.
“I immediately told him to go away, go away,” Carmina Lu said a few days after the attack. “I started defending myself, and then at one point he turned around and started hitting me in the face.”
He punched her multiple times in the face after she punched him in self-defense, police said. She was knocked to the ground and left with cuts to her face after her sunglasses broke during the attack.
When she fell, he ran toward Montana Avenue, police said. While her attacker was still at large, Lu was left injured and shaken. She spoke out about how the incident affected her as prosecutors filed charges weeks later.
“It definitely sticks with you,” said Lu, who described it as “an eye-opener. I felt a little more guarded, a little more anxious, and I wasn’t taking any risks for a while.”
In a statement from his office, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón called it a “horrific attack” that should never have happened.
“The allegations against the suspect are deeply troubling,” Gascón said. “No one should have to fear for their safety simply walking their child in their own neighborhood.”
In the days following the alleged attack, Lu said West LA community gathered around herShe said people living in the area shared surveillance footage from their homes and the footage was widely circulated.
“The whole neighborhood came together,” Lu said. “They shared a lot of video footage. And the fact that it was on the news resulted in someone identifying the suspect.”
Following a tip, detectives were eventually able to track down Shily and arrest him two days later.
He was arrested on suspicion of assault, but prosecutors said he has since been released on bail.
The Public Prosecution Service is asking the court to hold him on $50,000 bail.
He faces up to nine years in prison if found guilty on all charges. His next court hearing is scheduled for October 1.
The LAPD is still investigating the case.
