A New Jersey mother who was vacationing in the Turks and Caicos Islands this month said she was “faced with evil” after being assaulted by a man claiming to be a taxi driver.
Suyapa Ramos, an American tourist, recalled fighting for her life on March 10 when she was attacked in the car of a man who offered to give her a ride to her hotel.
The 48-year-old mother said, “I was so scared because I felt like I was close to death.” told ABC 7 on Thursday.
Ramos was able to escape, but the violent assault left him with cuts, bruises and damage to his eye.
She said she couldn’t find a late-night taxi and got into a stranger’s car.
“I don’t think it runs after 10 o’clock. That’s something I learned the hard way,” the Jersey City resident told the station. “I believed the person who said it was a taxi.”
When the suspect, who identified himself as Davidson Martin, offered her a ride home, there was no indication that he would become violent towards her in the car shortly thereafter, the mother said.
But within seconds, he allegedly began attacking her.
“That was the most terrifying thing I had to encounter, confronting evil,” Ramos said. “The personification of evil.”
“While he was hitting me, he was growling at me and trying to poke my eyes out,” she added.
She was eventually able to escape with the help of a Good Samaritan and was taken to the hospital.
“Fighting for my life, I managed to run to the road, flag down a car, and my angels took me to the hospital,” Ramos said on a GoFundMe page he set up.
According to Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police, local police began investigating Davidson after he arrived at the medical facility and later arrested him.
Local authorities said Davidson, 29, was charged with causing serious bodily injury.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, Ramos suffered damage to his eye and the left side of his face, which will require further treatment, he wrote on his GoFundMe page.
“In the last days, what looked like paradise turned into a complete nightmare,” Ramos wrote.
US Department of State issued a travel advisory Last summer, the Turks and Caicos Islands warned travelers to use extra caution while vacationing due to crime.
“Local medical and criminal investigation capabilities are limited,” the State Department said.
