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Judge orders psych exam for Brooklyn sex assault burglar

‘It’s an anomaly,’ suspect’s lawyers says

May 24, 2023 Mary Frost
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Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Christopher Robles on Wednesday ordered a man accused of a disturbing overnight sexual assault and burglary in Brooklyn Heights to undergo a psychiatric examination, under Article 730 of Criminal Procedure Law, to determine if he is mentally fit to be prosecuted.

In the early morning hours of Friday, May 12, Jayquan Martinez, 27, a resident of the Farragut housing project near the Brooklyn Navy Yard, allegedly entered the apartment of a 43-year-old single mother and her young son, robbing and sexually assaulting the mother. Police gave the approximate location of the crimes as Middagh and Henry streets. 

Cops arrested Martinez in the 77th Precinct on May 18, following a comprehensive investigation carried out by the Brooklyn Special Victims Squad’s Det. Shania Roach and the 84th Precinct under Commanding Officer Deputy Inspector Adeel Rana. 

Just four days before the alleged Brooklyn Heights assault, Martinez was picked up for another incident which took place on May 4. In the earlier case, he was charged with 13 counts including burglary, criminal trespass, criminal possession of stolen property, petit larceny and other charges (not including sexual assault), court records show.

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Other than a misdemeanor charge in 2019 which was dismissed, Martinez had no criminal record before the first alleged burglary on May 4, Martinez’ Legal Aid attorney, Scott Lindsey Rudnick, told the Brooklyn Eagle. “No criminal record, no warrants, no missed court dates. He’s got no record, which is why he was released the first time.

“It’s an anomaly for a 27-year-old man with no criminal record to face these kinds of charges,” Rudnick said. “We’ll see if he is competent at this point to be criminally prosecuted, and we’ll wait for the results.”

Martinez is now at Rikers, where he was incarcerated on May 20 after being unable to make bail set at $200,001 by criminal court Judge Joshua Glick. On Wednesday, Judge Robles ordered the bail to continue.

The next court date was set as July 5, but Rudnick said he doubted the psych exam would be completed by that time.

Martinez is charged with numerous felonies and misdemeanors in the attack on the Heights mom, including sexually motivated burglary, sexual abuse of a physically-helpless victim, attempted criminal sex act on a helpless victim, burglary: illegal entry of a dwelling, illegal possession of a credit card, criminal possession of stolen property and more, according to court records.

Woke up to a nightmare

The victim told the Eagle that when she awoke that night, she thought at first that she was having a nightmare. Then, fearing for the life of her child, who was sleeping in another bedroom, she ferociously fought off the much taller and heavier attacker, lunging at him and screaming, and causing him to back out of her room. She threw herself in between the attacker and her child’s bedroom door and continued to scream at him while trying to make herself appear as large as possible, she said.

“I kept screaming like an animal because I was trying to protect my son,” she said. 

The suspect fled from the apartment with the victim’s wallet containing cash and credit cards. When the police arrived, they discovered that the suspect had gone through the drawers in the kitchen and had left the knife drawer open, she said.


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