A 40-year-old woman ran nearly 20 blocks up Biscayne Boulevard before ducking into an office building at 4770 Biscayne Blvd. in Bay Point, desperate for safety after her phone died and a man kept following her, according to police. Once inside, officers say the man cornered her in the lobby and mailroom, choked and punched her, and sexually assaulted her before she managed to break away.
The man accused in the attack, 28-year-old Eddie Zewayne Bussey of Yonkers, New York, was arrested on nearly a dozen felony charges, according to police, as reported by WPLG Local 10. He faces kidnapping along with multiple counts of attempted murder and sexual battery, charges that under Florida law can each carry a maximum sentence of life in prison, per the Florida Senate's kidnapping statute and the Florida Senate's sexual battery statute.
Police say the encounter began after the woman left a nightclub in Wynwood on August 14. Bussey followed and yelled at her, according to police, trailing her for nearly 20 blocks up Biscayne Boulevard — a stretch of roughly two miles connecting the Wynwood Arts District to the Bay Point neighborhood, according to real estate records reviewed by Showcase.com. The woman's phone ran out of battery during the walk home, according to the same account.
Cornered in the Lobby and Mailroom
Seeking shelter, the woman entered the office building at 4770 Biscayne Blvd., a 14-story, 137,000-square-foot commercial landmark that underwent more than $4 million in renovations, according to property listings reviewed by PropertyShark. The building sits adjacent to a Publix supermarket and directly across Biscayne Boulevard from the gated Bay Point residential community, per the same property records. Police say she rode an elevator up to the 12th floor seeking help, but was attacked in the lobby and mailroom.
According to police, Bussey punched, choked, kicked, and dragged the woman by the hair, exposed himself and assaulted her, and performed multiple sex acts on her. Per the arrest report, he told her, “I'll kill you,” “I'll rape you,” and “Taste it.” The woman broke two of Bussey's necklaces while fighting him off, and she sustained a laceration to her cheek along with bruising and discoloration to her face, lips, throat, back, ribs, hip, and thigh, according to the arrest report. She ran to a nearby CVS pharmacy after escaping.
DNA From Rape Kit Led Police to Suspect
Miami police later found Bussey near Northwest 36th Street and 13th Avenue in Allapattah. According to police, DNA evidence from a rape kit tied the crime to Bussey. Under Florida Statutes Section 943.326, law enforcement agencies must submit sexual assault evidence kits to a state-certified lab within 30 days, and labs must complete DNA analysis within 120 days, a mandate laid out by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Sexual assault victims in Miami-Dade are typically evaluated for forensic evidence and medical care at facilities such as the Roxcy Bolton Rape Treatment Center at Jackson Health System, according to the Kristi House Children's Advocacy Center.
Per the arrest report, Bussey initially told investigators he walked home and stayed there for the rest of the night, then later told investigators he was at the office building to charge his phone. He denied sexually assaulting the woman and claimed, per the arrest report, that she made racist remarks and spat on him. He had been staying with his brother in a short-term Wynwood rental for about a month before the attack, according to the arrest report.
Combative With Officers After Arrest
Bussey spat on and fought officers during his arrest, according to police accounts, and damaged an interview-room wall and door by repeatedly kicking them. Per a separate arrest report, he also became combative with officers who were collecting a court-authorized DNA sample from him. He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, a pre-trial facility in West Miami-Dade operated by Miami-Dade Corrections, according to the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office. As of Wednesday, jail records showed his bond had yet to be set.
Under Miami-Dade criminal procedure, felony arrestees are entitled to a first-appearance bond hearing before a judge within 24 hours of booking, followed by formal arraignment at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in downtown Miami, according to the Baez Law Firm. Bussey has not yet entered a plea, and the charges remain allegations that have not been proven in court.
