Jury convicts ex-firefighter of attacking woman

Daniel Evans found guilty of kidnapping, attempted rape, attempted murder

Daniel Evans enters the courtroom for his trial.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Duval County jury Thursday evening found a Jacksonville firefighter guilty of beating, attempting to rape and kill a woman leaving a downtown bar last Summer.

Prosecutors said Daniel Evans, 31, kidnapped a woman who had just left Dos Gatos on East Forsyth Street and was walking to a parking garage, striking her in the head and dragging her into an alley. Prosecutors said Evans tried to rape the woman and knocked her unconscious when she kept screaming.

Recommended Videos



An emergency physician at Baptist Medical Center and medical director of the Sexual Assault Response Center testified Thursday that that kind of head injury could be life-threatening.

"It sounds like she had a loss of consciousness, indicating a fairly significant injury to the head," Caccam said. "If you have a significant amount of bleeding in the brain, the brain herniates through the skull. You won't breathe and you'll have affects on the heart and die."

In cross-examination by the defense, Caccam said the victim's medical results showed no evidence of bleeding or injury to the brain. He also told the defense doctors did not find signs of sexual assault to the young woman's body.

"Those could go all the way from severe as actual tears to the genital area, correct?" defense attorney Waffa Hanania said.

"Correct," Caccam said.

"All the way down to just rubbing and tenderness," Hanania said.

"Sure," Caccam said.

"And none of those things were found?" Hanania said.

"Not on this exam, no," Caccam said.

Caccam said that's not out of the ordinary. Often times, he said, victims of rape do not show signs of the assault.

The jury took only two hours to find Evans guilty of all charges.  Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 9.