LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – A man charged with raping a woman and hitting her with an ax is not guilty, a jury decided Wednesday.
Michael A. McCray, 31, of Clermont was arrested in 2018 on numerous charges, including not allowing her to leave her home and not allowing her to call 911.
The woman told police he was angry when she came home from work at 6:30 a.m. after working all night. She said he forced her to go into the bedroom, where he hit her on the knee with the ax, then forced her to get undressed. When she later tried to go to work, he struck her with the ax in the back. He then choked he and raped her, she said.
She said she escaped when he went into another room to get a razor so she could cut herself.
“She made multiple inconsistent statements,” Assistant Public Defender Joy Goodyear said Thursday.
That was the case from the beginning. “It should be known that when asked if any sexual acts occurred while I interviewed the victim, she advised that no sexual acts occurred,” the sheriff’s deputy who filled out the probable cause affidavit noted.
She praised the six-member jury for holding the state to its burden or proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.