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District Attorney indicts Williamsburg man for brutal ax rampage

Cops arrest Williamsburg man suspected of murdering woman with axe
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A Williamsburger faces up to 25 years to life behind bars for allegedly brutally attacking his girlfriend with an ax and killing her pregnant friend at a Flushing Avenue apartment, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office announced on May 17.

Jerry Brown, 34, is charged with second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and first-degree assault for allegedly assaulting his 21-year-old girlfriend and slaying her friend Savannah Rivera, 20, on April 20.

He allegedly attacked the two women with an ax inside his girlfriend’s eighth-floor apartment at Humboldt Street, while her 4-year-old daughter was in a nearby room just before 1:30 a.m., which Gonzalez described as a horrifying attack that has scarred the local community.

“The brutality of this attack, which claimed the life of a pregnant mother and left a second young mother fighting for her life, is truly appalling. These horrifying alleged actions have traumatized two families and shocked our community,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “I intend to prosecute this case vigorously and hold the defendant responsible for the violent crimes with which he is charged.”

Brown allegedly killed Rivera by hitting her repeatedly with the ax, before hacking away at his girlfriend, causing severe lacerations to the back of her head and gashes to her torso, arms, and throat, according to the district attorney’s office.

The authorities have not publicly released Brown’s girlfriend’s name because she is the victim of a crime.

His girlfriend then got outside the apartment and approached an Uber car that was stopped at a traffic light and the driver called 911. Paramedics later rushed her to a Queens hospital where she remains in critical condition.

Emergency personnel were the first on the scene and two officers from the 83rd Precinct who showed up afterwards were subsequently suspended by the Police Department for “failure to take appropriate action,” by reportedly not mentioning the child, ax, or dead woman in the apartment while requesting backup.

Brown surrendered himself at the 90th precinct later that day around 5:30 p.m. and confessed to attacking Rivera, adding that he threw the ax and his girlfriend’s cellphone down the building’s incinerator and washed blood off his hands before leaving the apartment.

Assistant district attorneys Howard Jackson and Joseph Bianco will prosecute the case under the supervision of assistant district attorney Timothy Gough.

Brown was ordered held without bail and to return to court on Aug. 9, according to the authorities.

Reach reporter Kevin Duggan at (718) 260–2511 or by e-mail at kduggan@cnglocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @kduggan16.