A Newark woman told a horrifying tale of abduction and repeated raped in 2013 in the home of a Jersey City man who has already been convicted of kidnapping another woman and repeatedly raping her in the same apartment.
JERSEY CITY -- A Newark woman told a horrifying tale of abduction and repeated raped when she took the stand today in the trial of a Jersey City man who has already been convicted of kidnapping and raping another woman in the same apartment.
"I thought that when he was raping me he was going to start stabbing me," the 28-year-old testified today in the trial of Shawn Barrett 47, who is already facing up to life in prison when sentenced in the previous matter.
The woman said on July 27, 2013 she and a friend drove to meet another friend in Newark before heading to a party in New York City. At one point, she got out of the car to relieve herself and as she did, she noticed Barrett drive past her.
She said Barrett drove by again moments later and he waved to her.
"I said to him, 'I'm no trick. I'm not coming over.' He said, 'It's not even like that... I think you're pretty. I want to get to know you,'" the victim recalled on the stand. "He said 'You want to smoke?' He was dressed nice. He didn't look like a bad dude by appearances."
"Did he mean marijuana?" Assistant Prosecutor Najma Rana asked.
"Yes," she replied, adding "I was like 'OK.'"
She said she thought Barrett was going to drive around the corner but when she got into his car "He put his foot on the gas... He proceeded to go faster. I thought I was going to open the door and jump out when the light changes but the lights were green the whole way. That's when he hit me on the side of my face. He said if I didn't cooperate he was going to blow my brains out. I was scared... I tried to look at the signs but I didn't know where I was going."
She said Barrett got on a highway and got off in Jersey City 15 minutes later, "driving like a race car driver." She said he turned into the driveway of his Stevens Avenue home and parked behind the building. He followed her out the passenger side door and "pushed something really sharp in my back."
"You better not make a sound or you're gonna die right now," the woman said Barrett told her.
He forced her into the building as her phone rang. When she reached for it, Barrett "snatched it and said 'What the f--- are you doing? You trying to take pictures of me?" She said he took her purse and also punched her in the face.
The 28-year-old then broke down in tears and the jury was dismissed until she had composed herself about 10 minutes later.
Back on the stand, the victim said: "My mind was just racing. I didn't' know what to think. I was just panicking. Nothing like this ever happened to me." She said Barrett barked "Take that sh--- off" and forced her to strip.
"I was scared he was gonna stab me in the head. He was just calling me names and he made me do so many things in so many ways."
The woman said every so often she asked to go to the bathroom so she could think. But "He walked me to the bathroom and he stood over me as I went to the bathroom and at that point I though he was going to kill me. I panicked and started crying and he said 'shut up or I'm going to kill you right now.'"
She said eventually, Barrett "just laid across the bed and fell asleep. He just fell asleep... he was snoring really hard and I thought, maybe he's trying to trick me to try to leave. I was so scared. I was shaking. I could feel the whole bed shaking... I remember just saying, 'God, please help calm me down."
She said she slid off the bed, grabbed her purse and phone. She said she took Barrett's pants too, hoping Barrett's car keys where in them, but did not finish telling of her escape before the trial broke for lunch at 1 p.m.
In September, Barrett was convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman in his apartment in 2013. The victim said as soon as she entered his apartment on Aug. 28, 2013, he struck her, pulled a knife on her and repeatedly raped her at knife-point.
At the time of the crime, Barrett worked in a county mail room and made about $26,000 per year. A county spokesman has said Barrett did not disclose his criminal history because the position of a mail attendant for the county Roads Department did not require a background check.