A 19-year-old man was charged Sunday with eight felonies in a string of sexual assaults and robberies, most of which occurred at the same West Ridge apartment complex over the last five months.
Tymarion Averyhart of Edgewater was charged with sexual assault with a weapon, home invasion, kidnapping, unlawful restraint and burglary, according to Chicago police. On Sunday evening, a Cook County judge ordered Averyhart detained until trial.
The most recent incident happened late Thursday in Rogers Park.
Prosecutors said Averyhart allegedly contacted a woman on an escort website and arranged to meet her at an apartment building in the 1800 block of West Lunt Avenue. She brought along a friend, who ended up meeting with Averyhart instead.
He allegedly held a knife to her throat, blindfolded her with a T-shirt and had her take her clothes off. He then allegedly raped her in the courtyard of the building, prosecutors said. He did not pay her the agreed upon $400 fee, prosecutors said.
A Chicago police surveillance team had been following him and saw him meet up with the woman, but they didn’t witness the assault, prosecutors said. A short time later Averyhart was arrested about a block away on Greenleaf Avenue.
He was also charged in three other incidents, all in the same apartment building in West Ridge, prosecutors said.
A woman living in the building in the 6200 block of North Bell Avenue left for vacation from Dec. 18 to Dec. 27. In that time, prosecutors allege Averyhart broke in and stole her ID, Social Security card and other items. When he was arrested Thursday, Averyhart allegedly had the ID and Social Security card in his possession.
On Dec. 26 at about 1 a.m., a woman in a different unit in the building awoke to find a man dressed in all black with a face mask on bending over her, prosecutors said. She tried to get away, but he trapped her. He then allegedly raped her and took her apartment keys, car keys and a PlayStation. She texted a friend that night about what happened.
Prosecutors say the attacker was Averyhart, based on DNA testing from a sexual assault kit, though the woman couldn’t identify him when shown his photo.
Two weeks later, on Jan. 10, the woman living in the first West Ridge apartment that Averyhart allegedly broke into came home after working a night shift and found a used condom, acrylic nail, torn cloth and empty Gatorade cans. Police collected the materials and determined the DNA in the condom was Averyhart’s, prosecutors said.
“What I have here is a brutal, vicious, senseless crime committed against three different victims,” Circuit Court Judge Rivanda Doss said during Sunday’s pretrial hearing. “There is clearly an escalation in the viciousness and violence of these incidents. … You are a threat to women everywhere.”
Averyhart doesn’t have a criminal record, his public defender said. And he has a supportive family, who sat in the courtroom Sunday. Averyhart waved to them when he came in. His next court date is Wednesday.