Julian Jefferson, 20, charged with capital murder in the March 2024 killing of Denise Lissette Ramos, 22, of Fairfield, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after he was court-martialed in the brutal sexual assault of a U.S. Navy sailor aboard Naval Base Colorado.

Jefferson pleaded guilty in early May 2024 to burglary with intent to commit certain offenses and two counts of rape by using unlawful force.

He was sentenced to five years in prison for the burglary and 20 years for each of the rape charges. Jefferson will serve these military prison sentences concurrently.

Sexual Assault Aboard Naval Base Colorado

According to court-martial documents, the victim was in her room aboard Naval Base Colorado, and sometime after midnight, she sent Jefferson a text message asking him to quiet down because she was trying to sleep but could hear his conversations in her room. Jefferson responded, “I’m so sorry. I’ll get it lowered down.”

Later that night, the victim woke to three knocks on her door, got out of bed to answer, and found no one there. The victim continued to hear knocking throughout the night and could not go back to sleep. She would get up to look through the peephole but could not see anyone.

During one of the knocks, the victim swung the door open and “saw the accused in the hallway wearing his Navy PT sweatshirt with his hood pulled over his head and face,” the document states, “The accused was crouched down and tucked away to the side of the door.”

Jefferson then sprung up and rushed into the victim’s room by force. “She tried to close the door on him, but he put his hand on the door to prevent it from closing further and entered the room,” the document states.

The court-martial document further states that Jefferson wrapped his arm around the victim and threw her to the floor. She tried to fight him off by punching his head and digging her nails into him. She also screamed loudly, believing Jefferson was trying to kill her.

Jefferson then got on top of the victim and choked her, the document states, and the victim pretended to pass out and let her body go limp. Jefferson sexually assaulted the victim on the floor, then picked her up and carried her to the bed, where he sexually assaulted her again.

The document states that Jefferson then dragged the victim to the shower and once again sexually assaulted her. While in the shower, Jefferson splashed water into the victim’s vaginal area in an apparent attempt to remove potential DNA evidence, according to the document.

She was then dragged out of the shower and dropped onto her bedroom floor. Once Jefferson left her room, she immediately got up and ran to a friend’s room seeking help.

Witnesses who heard the screaming called 911. One witness told investigators that she heard a girl “screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs.”

During her interview with naval investigators, the victim described the sexual assault as “tortuous” and said it lasted nearly two hours.

The ‘Times’ will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.