A young woman who was choked, beaten and raped by an ex-con at her North County workplace last weekend released a public statement Friday, thanking supporters and urging stricter punishments for repeat offenders.
“I want to be a voice for people in situations similar to what I’m going through,” Milan Leone stated.
The man who attacked Leone on Sunday night at the San Marcos smoke shop where she works committed suicide two days later by hanging himself in his jail cell, according to sheriff’s officials and the county Medical Examiner’s Office.
Leone said 27-year-old Jason Stey “should have gotten his third strike years and years ago” and “should have been in jail the rest of his life.”
“I feel bad for his family because his family lost someone they love and care about, and I know everyone means something to someone,” said Leone, who first spoke about what she’d gone through to CBS News 8.
Leone, 20, expressed gratitude for the support of her loved ones and and well-wishers she’d never met before.
“The community as a whole has wrapped around me, and I didn’t even expect any of it,” she said. “It’s been so surprising and so wonderful to know I’m not alone, and it’s made it easier for me.”
Leone said she came forward in hopes of creating something positive from her ordeal.
“I’m sharing my story so more people take notice, take a closer look at the judicial system and realize that an offender’s third strike really should be his or her third strike,” she said.
— City News Service
