SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A trial date could be set Tuesday for a man and a woman accused of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and beating a 21-year-old female acquaintance before leaving her naked by the side of an East County freeway.
Catherine R. McCoy, 47, and Christopher Carrera, 33, were each charged with rape by a foreign object, kidnapping and other counts stemming from the Aug. 18 attack.
The alleged victim, identified in court only as Amber, testified earlier this month that she was punched by McCoy and dragged to an SUV by McCoy and Carrera after returning to a friend's home near City Heights about 7:30 p.m. to gather her belongings.
Amber said McCoy confronted her about sleeping with her boyfriend and threatened to slit her throat.
The victim said Carrera, who she had met through a friend, told her that if she tried to escape from the car, "he'd beat the (expletive) out of me."
While in the back seat, McCoy beat her about the face with a metal flashlight and sexually assaulted her with a golf club when she said she had sex with McCoy's boyfriend, the witness testified.
Carrera allegedly stopped the vehicle near the interchange of state Routes 125 and 54 in Spring Valley, where he pulled the victim out of the SUV by her hair and dragged her over an embankment, punched her in the face and kicked her. The defendants then allegedly drove off, leaving the victim behind.
A passing motorist saw her around 8:30 p.m. when she emerged naked from the bushes and called for help. The 21-year-old woman had been beaten severely and was incoherent.
McCoy faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. Carrera would face up to 37 years to life behind bars because he's charged with a separate assault on a teenager and his father in July, according to prosecutor George Modlin.
