DETROIT – A 63-year-old woman was beaten and sexually assaulted in the overgrown front yard of a vacant church in Detroit.
Volunteers canvassed the neighborhood searching for a suspect. People in the community also printed out Crime Stoppers posters and went to the area the crime happened to share the posters.
Update: 2 men in custody after 63-year-old woman sexually assaulted on Detroit’s west side, police say
The assault happened Saturday night into Sunday (Nov. 14) in the area of Joy Road and Martindale Street. Police said the woman was left in the vacant yard all night until she was found the next morning.
Darius Stewart is friends with the victim and knows her family.
“It was shocking because that’s something that normally doesn’t happen in this community,” Stewart said.
The victim has been in a coma for days and may not be recovering as well as everyone in the neighborhood had hoped.
“Everyone that I know, they’ve been aware of what has happened. And I just talked to one of her family members this morning and they said she’s not doing well,” Stewart said.
Community members plan to go back to the area on Thursday from 1 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. to canvass the area again.
Detroit police are investigating.
Read: More Detroit crime coverage