CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Warning: This story contains disturbing details of an alleged sexual assault.
Retiring Mecklenburg County Judge Tracy Hewett significantly reduced the bond of a man charged with raping a woman, despite a prior attempted rape charge and recent history of failing to show up in court.
Following 29-year-old Octavis Wayne Deandra Wilson's arrest over the weekend, a judge set his bond at $2 million, but during a brief hearing Tuesday, Judge Hewett reduced his bond to $50,000, telling the man "We're gonna help you out."
Wilson made a promise to the judge.
“I will not mess up no more ...” he told her. “ ... You have my word. I will stay out of trouble.”
The judge's decision has police frustrated in recent days.
"What kind of message are we sending to our citizens when they see these offenders get right back out after committing very serious crimes against them?" Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings asked Wednesday. "Our job is to do everything in our power to not only keep the community safe but to make them feel safe. We continue to ask our judicial partners to take these crimes just as serious as we do."
District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said prosecutors also continue to relay their concerns to judges about violent offenders given low bonds.
"I think the community is right to have the expectation that whenever someone commits a serious violent crime that that person is held in custody," Merriweather said Wednesday. "Often, it’s our responsibility to be a voice for (victims) and you can’t help but feel their level of angst."
While Merriweather said he can't talk specifically about any case, he said the practice has the potential to discourage victims from cooperating.
CMPD charged Wilson with multiple sexual offenses connected to a reported sexual assault on Nov. 5 along Glenwood Drive near Tuckaseegee Road. According to court records, the victim told police she was kidnapped and raped by the suspect in a port-a-potty shortly after getting off a city bus at the intersection of Glenwood and Tuckaseegee.
Court records said the victim claimed the suspect offered her $20 for sex. After rejecting the suspect's advances, the victim said the man began touching and grabbing at her. When the victim pushed him away, investigators allege Wilson hit her in the head and face area several times. He then reportedly told her he wouldn't stop unless she gave him what he wanted, court records showed.
Court records go on to show the suspect then forced her into a port-a-potty where he pulled her pants down and assaulted her. The victim said the attack continued for about five minutes before he said he was finished and walked off. The suspect is then accused of picking the victim's phone up off the ground and running away toward Tuckaseegee and Glenwood.
Surveillance video in the area captured footage of the incident, CMPD said. The footage shows the victim walking with the suspect close behind her. The video matches the victim's recollection of the incident, according to CMPD, as it shows the pair enter the port-a-potty after the woman was hit several times by the suspect. They are seen again approximately eight minutes later before a brief interaction led to them going separate ways.
The victim suffered a black left eye, a deep cut on her left eyebrow and pain in various parts of her body, court records show. Detectives said they found smears of blood and blood-soaked tissues in the port-a-potty.
CMPD arrested the same man last year for reportedly trying to rape a different woman in the same general area. At that time, a judge ordered Wilson to electronic monitoring and granted him a $20,000 bond. He eventually made bond and was released from custody, but court records show Wilson missed a court appearance tied to his prior charge in August 2022. Instead of raising his bond, court records show Judge Carla Archie, who won re-election unopposed Tuesday night, set his new bond for the 2021 attempted rape and connected assault with a deadly weapon charge to a combined $10,000.
Records show Wilson returned to jail, but bonded out again on Oct. 5. Police arrested him just a month later for the recent rape.
Jail records show Wilson remained behind bars on his new $50,000 bond as of Thursday morning.
"There's no bond amount that is sufficient for a community's peace of mind regarding their safety," Jennings said.
Court records show Wilson was ordered to electronic monitoring after his recent arrest.