Pueblo man accepts plea deal in 2016 rape and assault case

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Pueblo man is headed to prison after pleading guilty in a rape and assault case from 2016.

According to our news partners at the Pueblo Chieftain, 49-yeard-old Charles Evans took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to assault and unlawful sexual contact for an assault on a mother and son on New Year's Eve 2016. With time served, he will serve 11 years.

Evans was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, sexual assault, and two counts of first-degree burglary. When he rejected the plea deal in March, the judge in the case noted that if convicted by a jury, he would likely spend the remainder of his life in prison.

The deal was revisited and agreed to by Evans on July 19. In addition to his prison sentence, he will be required to register as a sex offender and complete five years of parole.

According to an arrest affidavit, on the night of Dec. 31, 2016, a woman woke up to a large man standing over her bed. The man began beating her with a hammer and raping her. Her adult son heard the assault and came to her aid. He was beaten unconscious and left with injuries so severe that surgeons had to remove part of his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain. The mother also sustained serious injuries.

The son was not expected to survive but emerged from a coma two years later.

When interviewed by police the son identified Evans as the man who had attacked him and his mother. He said he remembered being hit repeatedly with a hammer and thinking he was going to die.

A blood-stained hammer was recovered at the scene.