Navy Sailor Committed 'Torturous' Sexual Assault, Now He's Suspect in Young Woman's Murder: Reports

The dishonorably discharged Navy sailor reportedly pleaded guilty to rape in May, the same month he was charged with capital murder

A former Navy sailor who is suspected of murdering a young woman reportedly received a sentence of 20 years in prison for a separate incident in which he pleaded guilty to having sexually assaulting a woman aboard a naval base earlier this year.

KWTX reported Wednesday that Julian Jefferson, 20, received the sentencing in relation to a Jan. 2023 incident in which his victim said the former sailor broke into her room aboard Naval Base Colorado and forcibly assaulted her.

Jefferson, who was dishonorably discharged from the Navy, pleaded guilty to burglary and rape charges in early May, according to local KGTV and The Times of Freestone County.

The victim told investigators that she texted Jefferson earlier that night asking him to be quiet because she could hear him talking in an adjacent room while she was trying to go to sleep.

Jefferson apologized over text, but the victim says she then began to hear knocking on her door throughout the night. Multiple times, the victim checked the door to find no one there and began trying to look through the door’s peephole to find out who was knocking.

When she eventually caught Jefferson in the act, the former sailor forced the door open and threw the victim to the floor, beginning to choke her, according to court-martial documents cited in KWTX’s report.

Jefferson then assaulted the victim on the floor before dragging her to her bed to continue the assault. He then reportedly dragged the victim to the shower, where he again assaulted her, according to the documents cited by KWTX.

The outlet reported that the victim said the assault lasted roughly two hours. The victim reportedly described the incident as “torturous," according to the documents. Witnesses had heard the struggle and called 911, according to KWTX, with one woman telling investigators she heard someone “screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs” at the time of the assault.

After Jefferson left the victim’s room, she ran to a friend’s barracks for help.

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Jefferson is already facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted of the capital murder charge he received in late May in connection with the March 28 killing of 22-year-old Denise Lissette Ramos.

Ramos’ body was discovered at her home in Fairfield, Texas, after police conducted a wellness check because she did not show up to work. Jefferson was charged with capital murder on May 20, according to KWTX.

It's not immediately clear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney.

"This whole thing has left an empty hole in our stomach. It's left a scar on our family,” Luis Ramos, Denise’s father, told KGTV. “And, just to hear that, you know, he is going to be held accountable for his actions; it helps us to kind of start to heal.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

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