KENTWOOD, Mich. — A woman described repeated alleged assaults and a kidnapping at the hands of her boyfriend during a preliminary hearing Thursday at the 62-B District Court in Kentwood.
The woman testified for more than an hour as part of the hearing to determine if and how the case would move forward. FOX 17 is not identifying the woman because she is the victim of domestic violence, according to police.
Elijah Sainvil, 22, faces multiple felony charges including criminal sexual assault, assault with intent to murder, and kidnapping. Prosecutors say he took the woman from his Kentwood apartment to Walker on June 12, where he allegedly strangled her.
According to investigators, the woman was able to escape by jumping out of his car and running to a gas station for help.
The June arrest came after the woman filed a police report against Sainvil for an incident on May 21. The woman briefly returned to his apartment that day when an argument led to Sainvil allegedly using pepper spray on her and hitting her more than 20 times.
"At that point he got increasingly angry, so he had grabbed me and flung me around and pinned me to the floor and kept on saying that I was lying to him. And from that point, that's when he started like he pinned me to the floor and he started hitting my head and face repeatedly, just hitting me, hitting, hitting, hitting," she said.
The woman testified that Sainvil then allegedly cut her hair and held a pair of scissors to her neck, threatening her life, before she says he sexually assaulted her.
She described how she felt in the days after the incident.
"I just felt very ashamed and defeated and embarrassed and humiliated. And I even thought about even if I went for help, like everyone would see my hair and my face, and it would just be a reflection of the damage that he did to me," she said.
The woman explained what led her to finally file a report in June.
"On that morning, like something just really came over me. Like I can't, I can't live with this. I can't. Like I have the power to say something and do something about what happened, and what happened to me was not okay," she said.
She also described the relationship she and Sainvil had at the time of the hearing.
"We weren't in an official romantic relationship, but we are still seeing each other even despite the no-contact holding," she said.
She also testified about what Sainvil said to her during the alleged kidnapping.
"I was complying with everything, and he just kept on going on about trying to kill me," she said.
The judge determined there was enough evidence against Sainvil to send the case to the county's 17th Circuit Court. A trial date has not yet been set.
If you or someone you know needs help getting out of a domestic violence situation, resources are available. Contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org. Or you can reach out to Safe Haven Ministries at their 24/7 hot line: 616-452-6664, as well as text and online chat options.
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