Woman attacked on same day as release of her assailant from 15 years earlier

HARLINGEN — For 15 years, Juanita Davis feared that the man who beat and robbed her would return to kill her after he was released from prison, her son said Friday.

On the day her attacker was scheduled to be released, another man beat Davis in the shop where she sells gifts from her hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Gto., Mexico, police said.

Officers arrested a man Friday and expect him to be charged with aggravated assault in connection with the attack on Davis. He is being held at the city jail on other charges.

Police refused to release the suspect's name pending his arraignment, Sgt. John Parrish said.

A mail carrier found Davis lying in a pool of blood Wednesday at San Miguel Gifts and Jewelry, 1617 E. Harrison Ave.

The coincidence of a second attack on the day the first attacker was released from prison was startling, said Lt. Col. Robert Scott, Davis' son who arrived here Friday from his home in Washington, D.C.

"You couldn't write it," Scott said.

Davis remained hospitalized at Valley Baptist Medical Center, where she was recovering from head injuries, her son said.

"She's doing very well, considering," Scott said. "She's pretty badly swollen."

Police investigated the possibility that revenge was the motive for the crime, Parrish said.

Davis told customers at her shop that in 1993, the man who robbed her left her near death. She said she gave police information that sent the man to prison for 15 years, and feared he would someday return to kill her.

She also told customers she even thought about closing her shop before the man's release from prison.

In February, Davis moved her shop from El Mercado Mall on Morgan Boulevard to its present location at a new strip mall on Harrison Avenue.

"She was afraid because she sent him to jail," said Raul Rodriguez, who rents the storefront to Davis and owns El Campanario restaurant.

Like other friends, he feared the man had returned for revenge.

"It could have been a vendetta," Rodriguez said.

However, the police investigation led to the Friday arrest of a different man - one who has no apparent connection with the assailant who beat Davis 15 years ago, Parrish said.

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Fernando Del Valle is a reporter for the Valley Morning Star.