Horror: Woman Sexually Assaulted, Beaten, And Set on Fire In Wichita Park

Debra Heine

A woman who was beaten, sexually assaulted and set on fire in a Wichita park, last Friday was in critical condition Monday, with burns all over her body and cuts to her head.

With little to go on, and no suspect, the police are asking the public for help in finding the 36 year old woman’s assailant.

ABC News reported:

Investigators have been unable to interview the victim at the hospital due to her medication and condition, but the Wichita woman gave a very brief description of her assailant at the scene, said police Lt. James Espinoza.

Firefighters responding to a grass fire found the 36-year-old woman with severe burns over 55 percent of her body and cuts on her head. The attack happened sometime between 10:50 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. Friday at Fairmount Park.

“It is a very heinous act, very cruel,” Espinoza said.

The brutality of the attack and the fact that police don’t know if the woman knew her assailant, or if it was a random attack, has the neighborhood is on edge.

Via KAKE.com:

“I think this is a great neighborhood and has been historically a very safe place to live and that makes this very disturbing,” said Brody Wellman.

Cierra Bethea has lived near the park for 8 years, she says this unthinkable crime makes her want to move.

“It kind of makes me feel uncomfortable just living over here now,” says Bethea. “To know that I’m not safe anymore. That somebody could come do this and we have a lot of kids that live around here.”
Police went door-to-door in neighborhoods around the park over the weekend asking if anyone saw what happened. They say so far they don’t have any witnesses to the assault. They also called in several people for interviews but so far, have very little go on.
Wellman hopes that changes soon, because he says whoever did this needs to be punished.
“It’s an outrage,” Wellman said. “This someone has to be held accountable for this. It’s beyond words I can’t describe how disturbing it’s been.”


UPDATE:
More on the victim and the assailant: According to police, the victim described the assailant as a black man. They still don’t know whether it was a random act of violence, or if she was targeted for some reason.

The victim is a mother of four children.

Her family said in a statement: “We just would hope that if anyone saw anything, if they would just come forward. We don’t want this to happen to another innocent person. The victim is a mother to four beautiful children and is a very loving and caring person.”

“Somebody out there knows what happened, and we need that information,” a police official said.

A $2,500 reward is now being offered for information that leads to an arrest.

“We have a monster or monsters among us,” said Gordon Bassham, Executive Director of the Wichita Crime Commission.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (316) 267-2111, submit a tip at WichitaCrimeStoppers.com, or text TIP217 followed by their information to CRIMES (274637). Crime Stoppers said all tipsters will remain anonymous.


The woman’s family said in a statement: “We just would hope that if anyone saw anything, if they would just come forward. We don’t want this to happen to another innocent person. The victim is a mother to four beautiful children and is a very loving and caring person.”

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