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Silver Spring resident Rome Hill, 32, was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison with all but 30 years suspended after persuading his victim to meet him after just two days, then assaulting her at gunpoint in September 2020.
At the time Hill reached out to his future victim, she was a stranger to him, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, on Sept. 9, 2020, "CC," the victim, and Hill were complete strangers when he reached out to her on Facebook and the two began talking through private messages after she accepted his friend request.
After just two days, CC became comfortable enough with Hill to to meet him in person after exchanging texts and phone calls, and the two met up at her studio apartment at 10 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2020.
"(Hill) and CC got along well at first," according to prosecutors. "They put on a movie, sat on the couch together, made small talk and drank beers. After the movie ended, the evening took a sudden and severe dark turn."
Darker than any movie they could have watched.
Officials say that Hill then took a loaded handgun out of his pants while warning his victim, "You're going to be upset with me," at which point CC shouted and told him to get out, though he refused, walked over toward her and placed the weapon on top of her refrigerator.
"Shocked and terrified," CC ordered that Hill leave her apartment, and even offered to buy him a ride home, but he had more nefarious intentions in mind, reportedly replying with "b---h, I'm not going anywhere," while demanding she "relax, chill out, and calm down."
"Realizing that she had aggravated (Hill, her) demands to leave turned into desperate pleas, but (Hill) completely ignored her (and) had already made up is own him, he was going to get what he came for, what he believed he was owed," investigators said.
Prosecutors then laid out what happened from there.
Hill threw a blanket over both of their heads and began to inappropriately kiss his victim's neck and stroking her thigh, though she was too scared to move or speak and began crying, for which he berated her, threatening to "blow her head off" if she didn't get off the couch and into bed.
He then raped her while positioning her to stare at the gun sitting on top of the fridge during the sexual assault.
When the woman attempted to get dressed and flee, Hill locked both the deadbolt and latch locks on her apartment door and raped her for a second time before taking a nap in her bed while "she laid wide awake next to him, paralyzed with fear," with the gun feet away.
Hours later, Hill woke up to use the bathroom, and a barefoot CC saw an opportunity to flee, taking her phone, keys, and wallet, though she was still reportedly too spooked to put shoes on as he was getting out of the restroom.
Minutes later, the Montgomery County Department of Police received a call about a sexual assault that had just taken place at CC's Silver Spring address and responding officers found Hill asleep in her bed, naked from the waist down, with the handgun still sitting atop the fridge.
Hill was taken into custody and initially denied any wrongdoing, though according to investigators, after a brief break, while no cameras or recording devices were on, he told a detective "This is (BS) ... If I came over you know we were either gonna s--k or f--k."
He has been held in custody following his arrest on Sept. 12, 2020, and his first rape trial was ruled a mistrial in Montgomery County when a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. His second trial began on Tuesday, Oct. 17, and he was convicted two days later of all counts.
Hill was convicted by a jury of:
- First-degree rape;
- Use of a firearm in the commission of a felony;
- Unlawful possession of a loaded handgun.
CC described Hill's actions as "ungodly, vile, immoral, unholy," which has caused her "immense psychological pain and trauma," and she said that being raped by him had "a ripple through every single aspect of her life."
"When (Hill) raped CC, she had 'just fully started loving (herself) again and felt happy with (her) life' after losing her father three years earlier; but his actions forced her to restart the grieving process, this time grieving for the 'huge part of (herself)' (Hill) robbed her of," prosecutors said.
"(Hill) also decimated CC sense of security, causing (her) too traumatized to live on her own" and she has since moved back in with her mother.
"I've been asking myself the same question for years," CC said. "'Why did he do this? Why me?
"I didn't know him; I had no vendetta against him, but I know the answer now. He did this simply because he was not in a cage."
In a victim statement, CC's mother wrote that "despite all of love she can provide her daughter, the violation she suffered at the hands of (Hill) were so profound on a physical, mental and emotional level that it will haunt her forever."
She called her daughter a "HERO" in all caps, according to court documents.
Her former supervisor at work - where she was also impacted and forced to miss hundreds of hours - said that he "will never forget that conversation and the sound of agony and despair in her voice."
CC's current direct supervisor also wrote in a letter to the court that after the assault, "her bright, cheery, and engaging personality disappeared," and he described it as "if a light had gone dark inside of her."
Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy praised CC following Hill's trial for speaking out about the harrowing experience.
“We thank the victim for her brave testimony during court proceedings, helping to ensure this defendant will not be able to victimize anyone else,” he said. “We would like to remind the public about best practices while dating online.
"When setting up face-to-face interactions, please meet in a public setting with others around and let a friend or family member know where you are going to be," McCarthy continued. "Maryland Case Search is also a free and publicly available tool to check for criminal history information."
Officials noted that Hill previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in April 2012 to possession of a firearm by a minor, and in February 2021 to resisting / interfering with an arrest.
In addition to his prison term, when he is released, a judge also ordered that Hill serve five years of probation and register as a Tier III sex offender for the rest of his life and he is forbidden from contacting his victim.
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