A Sacramento jury convicted 32-year-old Ihor Huryeyev of forcible rape, sodomy by use of force and kidnapping to commit another crime on Tuesday, more than two years after prosecutors say he dragged a woman into his car following a dispute and attacked her near Sutter's Fort. Huryeyev now faces a maximum sentence of 23 years to life in prison.
The case stems from an attack on March 26, 2024, when, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, an altercation broke out between Huryeyev and the victim's friend. Prosecutors said Huryeyev then grabbed the victim and forced her into his car. Sacramento police officers had responded to a report of rape on K Street that day, according to seed reporting from the Sacramento Bee, and the victim told police that she and her friend had argued with Huryeyev before he seized her.
Attack Unfolded Near a Midtown Landmark
From there, prosecutors said Huryeyev drove and parked in front of Sutter's Fort, the historic state park wedged between K and L streets in Midtown Sacramento. The district attorney's office said he strangled the victim three times as he struggled to remove her clothes, then raped and sodomized her. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office release states the victim was ultimately able to escape, and Huryeyev fled the scene.
A security guard who heard the victim screaming rushed to the location and managed to photograph Huryeyev's license plate, according to the same account from the district attorney's office. That detail proved pivotal to identifying a suspect in the immediate aftermath of the attack, before any arrest had been made.
DNA Evidence Sealed the Case
Investigators also collected DNA from the victim, which the district attorney's office said was gathered at an evidence and assessment resource clinic in Sacramento, per the Sacramento Bee's reporting. That DNA matched Huryeyev's, prosecutors said, linking him directly to the assault alongside the license plate photo captured by the security guard.
On Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court, a jury found Huryeyev guilty on all three counts tied to the attack. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office announced the conviction in a news release, laying out the sequence of events from the initial altercation through the escape and the forensic evidence that followed.
Sentencing Set for February
Huryeyev is scheduled for sentencing on February 5, 2027. He faces a maximum of 23 years to life in prison, according to prosecutors.
