Teen indicted as adult for attempted rape, assault, robbery
Boy allegedly caught on tape following woman off Ride On bus in Aspen Hill in November
A Montgomery County grand jury on Thursday handed down a three-count indictment against a 15-year-old Wheaton boy for allegedly attacking a woman in Aspen Hill, the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office reported.
Tyree Echols, of the 2200 block of Georgian Woods Place was indicted for attempted first-degree rape, first-degree assault and robbery in connection with an alleged incident on Nov. 14.
Police say Echols followed the 24-year-old woman off a Ride On bus around 7:30 p.m. As she walked from the bus stop on Bel Pre Road near Grand Pre Road toward her apartment, police say Echols grabbed the woman from behind and forced her into the woods.
Echols punched and hit the woman in the face and choked her as he sexually assaulted her, but the victim was able to fight him off and he fled with her purse and cell phone, police said in charging documents filed in District Court.
The woman was taken to a local hospital and treated for her injuries. She suffered a contusion to her right eye and lost one of her front teeth, according to the charging documents.
Police arrested Echols Nov. 16 in Wheaton near his home after recognizing him from the victim's description and surveillance video on the Ride On bus, according to charging documents. He is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg.
Assistant Public Defender Theresa Chernosky represented Echols during a Nov. 17 bond hearing, but could not be reached Thursday for comment. Online court records did not list an attorney for Echols.
Assistant State's Attorney Peter Feeney said during the bond hearing that Echols has a prior conviction for second-degree assault and disorderly conduct as a juvenile and faces destruction of property charges in Vermont, where he was attending school.
Echols' father, Tyree Echols Sr., is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 1997 rape and murder of a 19-year-old Aspen Hill woman, county police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said in a previous interview. He also received a second life sentence for the attempted murder of the woman's boyfriend, according to published reports.
Attempts to find an attorney for Echols Sr. were unsuccessful.