Press Release
QUEENS MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO RAPE AND ATTEMPTED MURDER FOR DAYLIGHT ROOFTOP ATTACK ON WOMAN IN 2023

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Jerson Vasquez pleaded guilty to rape, attempted murder and another charge for the violent sexual assault of a woman on a rooftop in August 2023. The defendant answered an online prostitution advertisement and lured the victim to the location.
District Attorney Katz said: “This was a brazen and brutal daytime attack. The defendant raped a woman on a Jamaica rooftop and slammed her head into a concrete wall, choked and punched her. She suffered extensive injuries and will be physically and emotionally scarred by this incident for the rest of her life. Thanks to her brave testimony, we were able to charge this defendant with rape and attempted murder. We hope that with this plea, the survivor can begin the healing process from this traumatic event.”
Vasquez, 25, of 170th Street in Jamaica, pleaded guilty Friday to attempted murder in the second degree, rape in the first degree and patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree before Queens Supreme Court Justice Michelle Johnson. Sentencing is scheduled for February 25, at which time Vasquez will be ordered to prison for 15 years with 10 years post release supervision.
District Attorney Katz said that, according to court records, on August 13, 2023, the defendant responded to a Facebook Marketplace ad and asked the woman to meet him at an address on 93rd Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The instructions included to meet him on the rooftop.
At the top of the building, Vasquez gave the victim $150 and the pair proceeded to have intercourse. The defendant then started choking the woman and slammed her head into a concrete wall, and then took his money back. According to court documents, the victim was then punched in the face and as the defendant sat on top of her, he repeatedly slammed her head into the floor and wrapped his hands around her neck applying pressure.
The defendant took the woman’s cellphone and left her on the rooftop. Video surveillance recovered from the crime scene shows Vasquez exiting the location with what appeared to be blood on his neck and hand.
The victim was admitted to an area hospital for a laceration to the back of her head that required staples to close. The woman had extensive swelling on her head, face and neck.
Assistant District Attorneys Tara DiGregorio, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Bureau, and Kiran Cheema, also of the DA’s Human Trafficking Bureau, prosecuted the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Jessica Melton, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of Investigations Gerard Brave.