LIVONIA, Mich. – Floyd Galloway Jr. told a judge last month he attacked and tried to have sex with a woman in September 2016 while she was jogging at Hines Park in Livonia.
Galloway, 30, was sentenced Friday to 16 to 35 years for the attack and attempted rape. He declined to comment before Judge Mark Slavens handed down his sentencing.
The victim, who was 28 at the time of the attack, was in court Friday. She read the following statement addressed to Galloway:
"On Sept. 4, 2016, I went out for a run, something I love doing. While running I was attacked and almost raped. Despite that horrible experience, I was determined not to let it stop me from accomplishing my goal. With the support of my family and friends I completed a half marathon a month later.
"Because of this attack, everyone knows who you (Galloway) are. But let me tell you who I am. I am not that weak, vulnerable girl you thought I was. I am a smart, independent, stubborn woman, and because of this attack I have become even stronger.
"I will continue to fight like I did that day to make sure that you continue to pay for what you have done to me and to make sure that you do not do this to any other woman. You do not deserve to be on the same Earth as me and my family. I hope that you think about that day, every day, for the rest of your life. I want you to think about me and how I am living and enjoying my life while you sit there alone because you thought you could take advantage of me.
"You may have ruined my day but you are not going to ruin my life."
Floyd Galloway just walked into cout to be sentenced in the attack of a Livonia Jogger . @Local4News pic.twitter.com/M3T5pSK4bw
— Karen Drew (@KarenDrewTV) December 8, 2017
After listening to the victim's statement and the prosecutor's praise for the woman's bravery, Slavens said he would follow the sentence agreement of 16 to 35 years in prison. The judge reflected on the severity of the charges and the "terror" that Galloway caused the victim. He addressed Galloway before reading the sentencing.
"Running down this path ... woman that you didn't know, never met before in your life, you decided that you had the right to go and grab her and put your arm around her neck in a choke hold, force her to the ground, and then beat her about the face, and then put your hands around her neck and strangle her until she became unconscious," said the judge. "And then she came to, and at that point in time you kept telling her that you wanted to have sex ... with a woman you had never met before, who had never given consent to you before, and yet you felt that you were entitled to choke this woman, beat this woman and have sex with her."
Slavens said the victim told Galloway she has children and begged him not to rape her.
"You finally say, 'Well let's go down to the river,' and she wisely wouldn't go down to the river. And you fled," Slavens said. "This had to be so, very, very frightening for her. The fear that she had I can't imagine. What's always amazing to me when I see sexual predators such as yourself that come to this court, who have committed acts in the dark -- like you did in darkened woods where she had no one to protect -- that when you come to court ... when you did the plea, you suddenly when you're in the glare of the courtroom you lose your voice."
Plea agreement
Slavens was referencing Galloway's statement he gave in court Nov. 21 while accepting the plea deal that enabled him to avoid a trial for an assault with intent to murder charge. Judge Slavens asked him to speak up multiple times as he delivered his statement.
"On Sept. 4, 2016 at about 7 p.m. I was at Hines Park in Livonia. I saw a woman jogging on a path I was walking on," Galloway said. "As she passed me I pulled her to the ground from behind, putting my arm around her neck ... I began hitting her and choking her. I did all of this in order to have sex with her. After a few minutes I got off of her, let her go and I ran away. I did not have sex with her."
Galloway told prosecutors the woman was unwilling to have sex with him. The prosecution said the victim was unable to breath while being choked and that she went unconscious at one point.
Galloway originally was charged with kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct-assault with intent to commit sexual penetration, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder by strangulation and assault with intent to murder.
Under the plea agreement the intent to murder charge was dropped and he will have to register as a sex offender for life. If a jury had found him guilty on the assault with intent to murder charge he could have faced life in prison.
Details of attack come out at preliminary hearing
The Hines Park victim testified that she went jogging at about 6 p.m. She said she parked near Joy Road and Farmington Road and ran 4-and-a-half miles in Hines Park before turning around. The victim said that on her way back, she took a path into a secluded, wooded area. She saw a man approaching her on the path.
The victim alleged that as the two passed each other, the man turned around and grabbed her from behind. He then proceeded to drag her into the woods with an arm tight around her neck as she struggled to get away.
The victim said the man got on top of her and she yelled at him, "What do you want? Why are you doing this? What do you want?"
The man answered, "I just want sex." He continued to restrain her.
The victim said the man began punching and choking her. She began pleading with him to let her go and that she had a family and a daughter.
The man eventually told her that he would let her go and left. As soon as the man left, the victim says she got up and went to get help. She flagged down two cars along Hines Drive and called 911.
Jessica Ojala with the Wayne County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program took the stand after the victim to discuss the collection of evidence.
Ojala performed the examination on the victim and recorded preliminary information from her. The defense argued that her record should be suppressed and the judge heard arguments from counsel, eventually allowing the line of questioning to continue.
She described the report she made during her interview with the victim. Ojala performed a head-to-toe physical exam and took photographs of injuries to the victims head and neck. Several injuries to her back, arms and legs were recorded. She also collected DNA swabs from the victims body.
Testimony was read into the record from law enforcement describing how Galloway’s DNA was collected and how other evidence was handled.
Galloway was bound over for trial before accepting the plea deal.
Connection to Danielle Stislicki
Galloway is considered a person of interest in the case of Danielle Stislicki, who has been missing for more than a year. He was a security guard at a Southfield building where Stislicki and her mother, Ann Stislicki, worked. That's the last place the 28-year-old Farmington Hills woman was seen in December.
"Floyd would watch many folks who would work late at night," Ann Stislicki said. "Would watch you walk to your car to make sure you were OK."
Ann Stislicki said Galloway was always kind and professional to her.
Farmington Hills police said they have been working with Livonia police and have spoken to Galloway in the past.
"The detectives investigating the Stislicki case have spoken to Galloway in the past and have conducted previous searches at his Berkley home," Farmington Hills police said in statement released June 28. "Galloway is a former security guard who worked for a contracted company that previously provided security at MetLife in Southfield where Danielle Stislicki was employed. Galloway was acquainted with Danielle during his security duties at MetLife."
The combined evidence collected from both investigations led Livonia police to arrest Galloway. Farmington Hills police wouldn't be specific about the evidence.
View: Timeline in Danielle Stislicki missing case
Hines Park searched in June
Law enforcement conducted a massive search of Hines Park in Livonia on July 19.
Cadaver dogs joined the FBI, Farmington Hills police, Livonia police and the Michigan State Police centering around the are of Hines Drive and Newburgh Road.
More than 100 investigators from 20 different agencies searched throughout the day for several items such as a suitcase, trunk, luggage, bags, and Stislicki's blue Eddie Bauer jacket.
"Law enforcement authorities have expressed since day one that Danielle Stislicki was a victim of a crime," said Farmington Hills Police Chief Chuck Nebus. "The facts of the case lead us to believe she is not alive. Several air, land, and water searches have been conducted at various places throughout the investigation. Hines Park is being searched as the result of a recent Livonia and Farmington Hills joint investigation. This investigation has led to criminal charges in Livonia against Floyd Galloway, a 30-year-old resident of Berkley. Because the Livonia incident occurred in Hines Park, it is a location that requires searching. There is no specific information or evidence that leads us to believe Danielle’s remains are in the park."
Berkley home searched in December
Galloway's home in Berkley was searched on Dec. 22, 2016, about three weeks after Stislicki went missing. Law enforcement searched the home, which is in the 2900 block of Oxford Road in Berkley. Sources told Local 4 a mattress and other items were taken out of the home. Neighbors said the man living at the home had not been seen in Berkley since police searched the home.
Officers carried a mattress out of the home. Local 4 was told some floorboards were confiscated by authorities and sent off for testing. Police also removed a car from the garage.
Neighbors didn't want to speak on camera, but one said it's "very unnerving" and "feels better that he's at least in custody." He was shocked Galloway has been named as a person of interest and very upset that he's charged in the Hines Park attack.
Galloway, 30, had a clean criminal past, other than a misdemeanor charge for operating while intoxicated back in 2008. He pleaded guilty to the charge and received 6 months probation.
Allen Park police investigate similarities
Allen Park police are investigating similarities between a sexual assault case they are investigating and the Livonia Hines Park attack case.
Livonia police had released a sketch of the attacker back in September. Allen Park police said that Livonia police sketch is similar to the one they released Tuesday in connection to a sexual assault on June 10, 2017. Allen Park police believe the cases could be connected due to the similarities of the sketches, which were made by two different sketch artists.