A 38-year-old Rochester man is facing attempted murder charges after police say he beat a 39-year-old woman on Stone Street in downtown Rochester last Friday, violating an active order of protection in the process. The woman was rushed to Strong Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening upper-body injuries, and the suspect was taken into custody at the scene.
According to the 13WHAM-TV, the Rochester Police Department confirmed that officers responded to a domestic assault report on Stone Street, a short commercial corridor linking East Main Street and East Broad Street near the city-owned South Avenue Garage, according to the City of Rochester. Action for a Better Community, a nonprofit that provides early childhood education and family support services across Monroe County, is headquartered at 400 West Avenue in Rochester, outside the Stone Street corridor.
Police identified the suspect as Marcus Mims, who has since been charged with Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, Assault, and Aggravated Criminal Contempt. Jail records show Mims was held on $100,000 cash bail or $400,000 bond, the station's report indicates, and he has a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday.
What the Charges Mean Under New York Law
Attempted Murder in the Second Degree is classified as a Class B violent felony under New York Penal Law §§ 110.00 and 125.25(1), carrying a potential sentence of up to 25 years in state prison upon conviction, according to the New York State Senate. Class B violent felonies are bail-eligible offenses, which allowed a judge to set monetary bail or remand in Mims's case rather than release him without conditions.
The aggravated criminal contempt charge stems specifically from the existing order of protection. Under Penal Law § 215.52, that charge is a Class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, applied when a defendant intentionally or recklessly causes physical injury to a protected person while violating a court order. New York law places the legal burden to comply with such an order solely on the restrained individual — meaning even contact initiated or welcomed by the protected party does not excuse a violation, per Rockland County Defense Law.
A Pattern Playing Out Across Monroe County
The case lands amid what local officials describe as a persistently elevated rate of domestic violence in the Rochester area. Monroe County recorded 4,481 criminal domestic violence reports and 37,354 domestic dispute calls to 911 in 2025; its domestic-violence reporting rate was just under twice the statewide average, according to WXXI News. That data was compiled in an annual community report released by the Willow Domestic Violence Center and county officials.
In response, Monroe County has received $2.6 million through New York State's Statewide Targeted Reductions in Intimate Partner Violence initiative, with funding split among Willow, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the Rochester Police Department, and other agencies, WXXI reported. The Willow Domestic Violence Center also provides services to people affected by domestic violence.
The Monroe County District Attorney's Office has a Victim-Witness Bureau. It remains unclear what specific court history preceded the order of protection in Mims's case, and the outcome of his scheduled Wednesday court appearance had not been reported as of publication.
