NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Brooklyn man was sentenced to prison for brutally attacking his ex-girlfriend multiple times, leaving her in critical condition, and fatally striking her pregnant friend with an axe, prosecutors said.
Jerry Brown, 39, of East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced. He was convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and first-degree assault.
According to court documents, on April 20, 2019, at around 1:35 a.m., Brown attacked his 21-year-old girlfriend and her friend, Savannah Rivera, 20, with an axe inside his girlfriend’s apartment in the Bushwick Houses on Flushing Avenue near Humboldt Street in East Williamsburg. His girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter was also inside the apartment during the attack.
He fatally struck Rivera, hitting her repeatedly, and hacked his girlfriend multiple times, causing a severe laceration to the back of her head and gashes to her torso, arms, and throat, prosecutors said. After Brown left the apartment, his ex-girlfriend was able to make it outside. An Uber driver saw and approached her at a traffic light and called 911. She was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition.
The surviving victim had multiple surgeries while being treated for a fractured skull, broken ribs, collapsed lungs, and multiple stab wounds. Prosecutors said she still suffers from seizures and remains at heightened risk of developing life-threatening infections.
Brown surrendered later that same day at around 3:30 p.m. During an interview with investigators, he confessed to attacking the two victims and said he threw the axe and his girlfriend’s cellphone into the building’s incinerator.
“This was a shocking and senseless act of violence that took the life of a pregnant woman and left a second woman with physical and emotional traumas she suffers to this day,” Gonzalez said. “Nothing will bring Savannah Rivera back, but I hope today’s sentence brings a measure of solace to her family and friends. The defendant has now been brought to justice.”