Rape suspect stalked victim for blocks before attacking her at SoHo apartment: prosecutors

Nicholas Williams, Leonard Greene, New York Daily News
·2 min read

A sick attacker stalked a woman for several blocks — ducking behind cars to avoid being detected — before following her into her SoHo apartment and raping her, prosecutors said Wednesday.

They added that after climbing the stairs behind the victim to the second floor, suspect Ellow Williams held his her neck in a chokehold so tightly that she lost consciousness several times during the vicious attack.

After raping the 23-year-old woman, Williams robbed her, taking off with $40, a prosecutor said.

“The defendant followed the victim, a complete stranger, for several blocks to an apartment building at approximately 4 in the morning,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Christina Awad recounted.

“The defendant was seen on video following the victim, ducking behind cars and trying to avoid getting detected,” she added. “He is then seen on video entering the victim’s apartment building behind the victim as she entered the door using a key fob.”

Before the door could close, Williams crept in behind her, police said.

Once inside the building near the corner of Thompson and Prince streets, Williams placed a mask over his face and followed the woman to the second floor, where approached her from behind, put her in a chokehold, threatened to shoot her and sexually assaulted her, Awad said.

The man told the woman, “If you scream, I’ll shoot you,” according to cops. Williams did not flash or simulate a gun, police said.

“Throughout the assault, the defendant applied pressure to the victim’s neck and mouth multiple times, causing her to go in and out of consciousness and ensuring she would remain subdued as he continued to assault her,” Awad said.

The victim was treated at a local hospital and released.

Williams, 30, was remanded without bail during his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

He is scheduled to be back in court on April 29.

Williams was on parole after serving time in prison on a robbery conviction.

The accused rapist has five prior arrests in New York City. He spent nearly two years in prison for robbery and was released on parole in March 2023, records show.