A migrant accused of raping a woman at knifepoint near a popular beach boardwalk in New York City’s Brooklyn borough has made his first court appearance as details emerge about him and another suspect’s prior run-ins with the law.
David Davon-Bonilla, facing charges including first-degree rape and sexual abuse in connection to the alleged attack in Coney Island, is being held without bail after pleading not guilty.
The 24-year-old crossed the U.S.-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas in December 2022 and headed to New York City after telling Border Patrol agents that he was intending to travel to Miami.
In April last year, Davon-Bonilla sexually assaulted a 34-year-old woman while staying at a hotel-turned-shelter in another part of Brooklyn and later pleaded guilty to assault in the second degree.
He served time at New York City’s Rikers Island prison complex before being released on June 24.
After spending over a year in jail and following the victim's request not to testify, Davon-Bonilla was offered a plea of time served and court-managed programming.
An NYPD source revealed that Davon-Bonilla is a migrant from Nicaragua and that the incident at Coney Island happened outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.
The other suspect arrested, 37-year-old Leovando Moreno, also pleaded not guilty and is being held on $20,000 cash bail with an outstanding warrant in Seaside Heights, New Jersey for public lewdness.
The victim was attacked around 9 p.m. on Sunday night near Surf Avenue and West 16th Street in Coney Island. The female victim was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, while a male victim, identified as her boyfriend, refused medical attention.
