Good Samaritan describes finding bloodied woman inside Texas mall bathroom
HOUSTON, Texas -- A change in morning exercise plans because of the weather led Ashley Hill to Houston's Memorial City Mall on Sunday morning.
As she walked around the mall, she took a restroom break around 8:30 a.m.
What she saw next is a vision she said she can't get out of her head - a woman face down in a pool of blood near the sinks, moaning for help.
"She was missing at least one or more teeth, she was bleeding from every side of her head I could see, out of her ears," Hill said. "She was in really bad shape."
Houston police said the 31-year-old victim was approached from behind by a man who had made a rope from a trash bag and wrapped it around her neck, strangling her until she lost consciousness.
They also said the victim was repeatedly kicked.
Hill said, "It looked like a commercial trash bag liner. She had some consistent marks on her neck that maybe that was used on her. Horrible."
The good Samaritan also said the victim told her she worked at the mall.
She had tried screaming for help but noise from a nearby hockey practice at the mall's ice rink may have drowned her cries out.
She also said the victim indicated she didn't know the man, nothing had been taken from her, and she didn't believe she had been sexually assaulted.
"Something is driving a lot of rage inside someone to hurt someone that bad," said Hill.
She stayed with the victim at the hospital until her family arrived.
Police said the suspect ran out of the mall and through the parking lot before getting away on a METRO bus.
"I would ask that everybody try to keep this woman in their prayers and a speedy recovery," said Hill.
She said she's been in touch with the victim's family and she was transferred to the main medical center and has been in surgery for a broken jaw.
