Pregnant Woman Brutally Beaten for Not Saying Thank You After Man Held Door for Her

A pregnant woman is recovering after a man in the building she was working in attacked her. She suspects a dispute with a coworker may have led to this horrific attack.

The assault happened on March 5th at the Elliott Houses on 26th Street in Chelsea.




Police say the dispute began after Lakeeya Walker did not say thank you to a man who held the door for her. The man has been identified as Darryl Guillyard, 32.

"He picked me up off the ground, has his hands around my neck," said Lakeeya Walker, a pregnant woman and NYCHA worker. "He would've got more hits, but I was dodging him, not staying still, so he would have a landmark up."

22-year-old Lakeeya Walker says she was savagely punched in the face and kicked in the stomach while working at the Chelsea Houses last Thursday morning. Most frightening of all, she is nine weeks pregnant.

"He was basically saying, 'I'm going to kick that baby out of your womb,'" Walker said.

Walker had just finished shoveling and sprinkling salt when she tried to enter the building. She says a tenant let her in. But she didn't say thank you. Lakeeya claims that's when he threw hot coffee on her face followed by fists and feet.

"It's crazy I don't know this man. How does he know I'm with child?" Walker said.

While a vicious attack on a pregnant woman is horrible enough, she is convinced it was not about not saying thank you. Lakeeya fears she was set up by another NYCHA worker with whom she had an earlier conflict and this is how it was settled.

"She stood across the street the whole time and did nothing," Walker said.

NYCHA issued a statement Friday night saying, "We are providing assistance to the employee and cooperating with the authorities as they investigate this appalling crime."

"I had a blood clot by the baby's head," Walker said.





Kimberly Foster is the founder and editor of For Harriet. Email or Follow @KimberlyNFoster

crimes violence