JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The video above is from a previous report.
Kevin Williamson, 59, was arrested on May 21 after he allegedly attacked a woman while inside a BP gas station in Jacksonville five days before.
The attack was captured in a video that went viral, leading to an outcry for Williamson's arrest among social media users. In the video, 23-year-old Rayme McCoy is repeatedly hit by another patron at a University Park area gas station.
Williamson's charge has since been raised to felony battery, as of Friday afternoon. His bail was also raised, now totaling $50,003.
In a response to the charge upgrade, the victim's legal team released a statement which said she was pregnant at the time of the battery.
McCoy spoke with First Coast News after the attack. She explained that she went inside the business to get gas when she heard a man yelling racial slurs to another person. She says she went to pay for her purchase and the man came up behind her. When she asked for space, he became agitated. He then began to repeatedly punch her.
"He came in after me and was basically yelling 'y'all kind, you need to go back where you came from,'" said McCoy. "I'm pushing his beers away from me and once I pushed the beers away from me, he started punching me in my head."
McCoy's attorney, Amy Hanna, released a statement on her behalf following Williamson's Friday arraignment. Read the full statement below:
Kevin Williamson, 59, appeared before a judge Friday with his public defender. His misdemeanor battery charge was dropped and he was charged with felony battery. We still await the addition of hate crime charges, but thank the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorneys for the upgraded charge. Ms. McCoy was pregnant at the time of the attack, so two lives were subject to Mr. Williamson’s violence. We demand release of the surveillance and body camera video from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and State Attorney’s Office.
