That's the short version of what happened to Rebecca McDonald in August 2005. She was accosted in Spotsylvania County Virginia by Jose Ramirez while he was working on a townhouse as part of a construction crew. She ignored his rude catcalls and tried to walk on by, but he grabbed her and dragged her into the woods.
Ramirez slammed a rock against her face several times and tried to drown her by holding her head under water in a stream. She fought back and was lucky that a local man, history teacher James Snyder, heard her screams and came to her aid. Ramirez ran off but was soon captured by police, despite his resisting arrest.
Doctors determined that Rebecca's left eye socket had been shattered, and that the ligaments holding her eye in place had been severely damaged. She has undergone three operations, but her left eye still doesn't rest in its proper place, and her eyesight is still impaired. Additional surgery is possible, Sullivan said. [Guilty plea in beating , Fredricksburg Free Lance-Star 7/18/2006]
Rebecca also suffered a broken nose, a concussion and cuts requiring around 30 stitches on her face and the back of her head. She stayed out of school for months because of her damaged vision.
On Friday, Ramirez was sentenced to 27 years in prison, a disappointingly light jail term considering that he could have gotten life.
In addition, Ramirez had been convicted of two burglaries in Prince William County that occurred a month before his attack on Rebecca 151 why wasn't he in jail and then deported back to El Salvador? If he had been properly incarcerated for his previous felonies, he wouldn't have been free to brutalize an innocent girl. Why can't law enforcement do its job?
