A woman is seriously injured after an eight-story fall from a building in Northwest D.C. Thursday evening. The victim was found with her legs bound after prosecutors say her boyfriend choked her and tied her up. In apparent terror, she jumped out of a window to escape, officials said.
Police said it was a miracle that the woman, said to be in her 20s, survived. She was in critical but stable condition after what the Metropolitan Police Department called a domestic incident.
Kylee Jamal Palmer, 22, of Northwest D.C., was charged with assault with intent to kill, possession of an unregistered gun and possession of a large-capacity ammunition-feeding device. Palmer was armed with what police called a "rifle-style ghost gun." It wasn’t immediately clear if he had a lawyer.
The woman is expected to recover, Cmdr. Duncan Bedlion said.
“We know she had serious injuries and she has a long road to recovery, so I don’t want to disregard that, but it’s a miracle she’s alive, and I’m very grateful for that,” he said.
Police and prosecutors released disturbing new information on the case Friday. In court, prosecutors said the couple — who share a child — had argued because Palmer believed his girlfriend was cheating on him.
The victim told police Palmer choked her and tied her up. She jumped out of an eighth-story window to escape, with her legs still bound.
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A window screen that had been pushed out could be seen on the eighth floor.
Police frantically searched for the woman and Palmer's 1-year-old son for a time. The child was later found safe with relatives.
D.C. Fire and EMS was called to the 4500 block of Connecticut Avenue NW after 7 p.m. after reports that a woman suffered injuries from a major fall. The woman landed on a landscaped area next to the Connecticut House building in the Van Ness area.
Police said witnesses reported seeing a rope around the woman.
“There was some type of rope or item tied around parts of her body – her legs, specifically,” Bedlion said.
“The victim, I saw her on the ground. She was alive when I saw her,” said a woman who sounded shaken.
The woman was taken to a trauma center after the fall. Palmer fled the scene, police said.
He was taken into custody as police investigated, about an hour-and-a-half after the woman's fall. He said he was the victim’s boyfriend, according to police. News4 footage shows a man being taken away.
Court documents say Palmer and the woman dated for three years, and he believed she was having an affair. He forced her to take a polygraph test, which she failed, the documents say.
Palmer then allegedly “shoved her to the ground, tied her hands and feet, and choked her until she went unconscious,” court documents say.
When Palmer left the room, the woman was able to untie her hands and get to the window. Then she jumped.
Palmer claimed in court that he had been trying to help his girlfriend get free when she tripped on the rope.
Palmer has previously faced a number of criminal charges, court records show, including pleading guilty to carrying a gun without a license in 2018. He was previously charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
He is being held without bond and is due in court in two weeks.
Police said they found a number of snakes and lizards in the apartment. They were later taken by animal control.
An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact police.
