Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Taverous Tywon Lorenza Williams, 47, of Alachua, was arrested in June and charged with raping and stabbing a woman who was sleeping on an empty lot in Alachua in January.

On January 29, an Alachua Police Department officer responded to UF Health Shands hospital, where the victim reportedly said she had been sexually assaulted and battered by an unknown black man while sleeping on an empty lot just east of the Circle K (15089 NW 140th Street) in Alachua.

The victim reportedly said that while she was sleeping in the early hours of January 26, an unknown black man approached her and asked if her name was “Chrissy.” She said she was not Chrissy, the man walked away, and she went back to sleep. However, she said, the same man approached her again later, grabbed her by the throat, and placed her in a headlock until she saw stars and was unable to breathe. She said she yelled and struggled, but he stabbed her on the top of her head with a sharp object and told to her “shut up” or he would kill her.

The victim said she thought she was going to die at that point, and the man threw her onto the ground, pulled her pants down, and sexually battered her. She said her cell phone fell to the ground during the struggle, and when the man was done, he took her cell phone and fled on foot.

The officer reported that the victim had obvious bruising on her neck and a small puncture wound on top of her head.

Officers went to the location she described and reportedly found an area of disturbed ground that indicated a possible struggle. They also reportedly found a black beanie cap, a glove, a cigarette lighter, and a small blunt-edged pair of scissors, partially covered with debris. The items and the victim’s sexual battery kit were sent to FDLE for testing.

On April 8, results came back, indicating that there was blood on the scissors and a substance on the test swab from “at least one male contributor.” Another report received on April 30 indicated a possible match between the DNA profile of that substance and Taverous Williams.

Officers requested a search warrant to retrieve a DNA sample from Williams, and he was located in Alachua on May 20; an officer obtained a sample but did not mention the sexual battery case during the interaction with Williams except to say the incident happened in January, and Williams reportedly said he was in jail on January 18. Williams reportedly asked where the incident occurred, and the officer said it was in a lot next to a convenience store.

The officer reported that before leaving, he asked Williams if he had any questions, and Williams said he had slept “there” and had left “rubbers out there”; he said that was “careless of me, because I might have put myself in a position for someone to take my used rubbers and take my DNA, because I was out here getting high.”

On May 23, the officer spoke again with the victim, who reportedly said she didn’t know Williams and had never had sex with him before or after the sexual battery incident.

Williams was arrested on June 16 and has been charged with sexual battery, felony battery, petit theft, and preventing communication with law enforcement. He has nine felony convictions (seven violent) and nine misdemeanor convictions (one violent); he has served five state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2019. He is a designated career offender.

On June 24, Judge James Colaw granted a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold Williams without bail until trial on the sexual battery charge.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.