SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man and woman accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and beating a 21-year-old acquaintance before leaving her naked along an East County freeway pleaded not guilty Monday to multiple felony charges.
Catherine R. McCoy, 47, and Christopher Carrera, 33, were each ordered to remain jailed in lieu of $2 million bail in connection with the Aug. 18 attack.
Deputy District Attorney George Modlin told reporters that the kidnapping and assault was carried out because McCoy wanted to exact revenge on the victim for sleeping with her boyfriend, a man other than Carrera.
Carrera was a mutual friend of the victim and McCoy, Modlin said.
"It's an absolutely brutal attack that you would never wish on your worst enemy," Modlin said. "They just dumped her on the side of the road like trash."
Both defendants are charged with rape by a foreign object with force, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and making a criminal threat.
Carrera is also charged in a separate case with a random assault on a 17-year-old boy and his father in Old Town on July 19, Modlin said.
The teenager was knocked unconscious and had bleeding on the brain and his father's nose was broken, the prosecutor said.
McCoy faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, while Carrera faces up to 37 years to life, according to Modlin.
The victim in the kidnapping/sexual assault was attacked about 7:30 p.m. as she walked to a residence near City Heights, said San Diego police Lt. Rudy Tai.
He said two assailants punched and kicked the victim and forced her into a white SUV. As the male suspect drove, the female suspect beat, sexually assaulted and threatened to kill the victim, Tai alleged.
Modlin said the victim was beaten with a flashlight and sexually assaulted with a golf club.
The driver stopped the vehicle near the interchange of state Routes 125 and 54 in Spring Valley, where Carrera pulled the victim out of the SUV by her hair and dragged her over an embankment, punched her in the face and kicked her, Tai alleged. The pair then left the victim and drove off, the lieutenant said.
A passing motorist saw the victim around 8:30 p.m. as she emerged naked from the bushes and called for help. The 21-year-old woman was incoherent and had been beaten severely, Tai said.
McCoy and Carrera will be back in court Sept. 9 for a status conference. A preliminary hearing was set for Sept. 12.
