New Rochelle police officers rushed to an apartment at 23 1st Street in the city's West End neighborhood just before 4:39 a.m. Sunday after a 911 call reported a serious domestic assault. Inside, they found a 31-year-old woman with severe facial and eye injuries, the result of being pistol-whipped, according to police details. The suspect was gone before officers arrived, kicking off a manhunt that would stretch from Westchester County into New York City and end with a startling discovery: the man was also wanted in a Bronx double homicide. According to the City of New Rochelle, the city has a population of approximately 72,000 and is divided into diverse neighborhoods.
Officers initially believed the attacker was still inside the apartment when they responded, but a search of the unit determined he had already fled the scene, according to Talk of the Sound. That set off a coordinated search involving New Rochelle Police detectives, NYPD detectives, and the FBI, who worked together to track the suspect, identified as 42-year-old Ronald Rashad Givhan, to an apartment in Brooklyn. He was taken into custody there without incident on Monday, according to News12 New York.
At the Brooklyn apartment where Givhan was arrested, law enforcement officers recovered a firearm, per Mid-Hudson News. No connection between the firearm and either the New Rochelle assault or the Bronx homicide was reported. Givhan had been wanted in connection with a double homicide that occurred in the Bronx in June, according to police, though the underlying circumstances of that case remain largely unpublicized.
Charges Head to Westchester While Bronx Case Holds Him in NYPD Custody
Formal first-degree assault charges against Givhan will be presented to the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, with court dates to be scheduled once the process moves forward. In the meantime, he remains in NYPD custody in connection with the Bronx homicide investigation, the same account reports. That arrangement means Givhan's case will be handled across two separate jurisdictions — Westchester County pursuing the assault charge tied to the New Rochelle attack, while New York City authorities continue their homicide inquiry.
Under New York Penal Law § 120.10, Assault in the First Degree is classified as a Class B violent felony, carrying a maximum state prison sentence of up to 25 years and a possible fine upon conviction, according to Tilem & Associates, PC. The statute sets out four alternative theories of first-degree assault; only one subsection requires prosecutors to prove that a defendant intentionally caused serious physical injury using a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument.
Court records published by FindLaw show that a defendant named Ronald Givhan was previously convicted in 2009 in Westchester County Court on charges of second-degree and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a conviction that was affirmed on appeal in 2010, according to a case listing on FindLaw.
Agencies Thank Each Other, But Bronx Details Stay Scarce
New Rochelle police publicly extended gratitude to both the NYPD and the FBI for their assistance in executing the multi-jurisdictional search and arrest, underscoring how quickly local, city, and federal resources aligned once the Bronx connection surfaced. The West End neighborhood, where the assault took place, was left with a resolved manhunt but plenty of unanswered questions about what led to the alleged violence.
Reporters reached out to the NYPD for additional details regarding the underlying circumstances of the June Bronx double homicide, but as of the most recent reporting, extensive public information about the victims or a motive had not been released. Givhan is due to face the New Rochelle assault charges even as the Bronx homicide investigation continues to unfold separately in New York City.
