It was as brutal as it was unprovoked. As Andrea Puerta looked down at her cell phone a fist came crashing into her jaw. Then another. And...
It was as brutal as it was unprovoked.
As Andrea Puerta looked down at her cell phone a fist came crashing into her jaw. Then another. And another.
Her attacker paused just long enough for shell-shocked Andrea to glance up at his face for the first time.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said in a calm, icy voice as their eyes met - before tossing Andrea across the train like a rag doll and smashing her head-first into a seat.
‘In that moment I thought this is it, He is telling me this because he is going to kill me,’ Andrea recalls in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV.
‘The only thing that stopped him is that he didn’t have enough time before the speaker said we were arriving at the next station. It’s a miracle I’m alive.’
Until she hopped on the Metromover, an automated commuter shuttle that circles downtown Miami, everything about the evening of September 4 had been routine for 29-year-old Andrea.
Andrea Puerta, 29, was viciously beaten in an unprovoked attack while riding the Miami metro on September 4. She told DailyMailTV in an exclusive interview that she believed she was going to die
Andrea said her attacker told her 'sorry' before continuing the beating, which left her with a broken rib, fractured jaw and back injuries
‘In that moment I thought this is it, He is telling me this because he is going to kill me,’ Andrea recalls in an exclusive interview with DailyMailTV. ‘The only thing that stopped him is that he didn’t have enough time before the speaker said we were arriving at the next station. It’s a miracle I’m alive'
In a moment of astonishing brutality, he hurls Andrea across the train before picking her up and throwing her back the other way, slamming her head-first into a seat
Cameras from each end show King boarding the train at Financial District at around 10:45pm, hopping off and on again to check if the coast is clear, then making a beeline for petite Andrea
Texting friends as she headed home from her job as a dog walker, she barely noticed the 6ft 2in passenger eyeing her from across the single-compartment train.
‘I was texting a friend, I took a seat. I was in my own world with my phone and then he just started to punch me,’ she says.
‘I said please stop, stop, I tried to protect myself with my hands. He said sorry but I looked into his eyes and I knew he wasn’t going to stop.
‘It’s like he was saying, I’m sorry but I have to kill you. I remember him throwing me, I remember the punches all over my body but then nothing. I blacked out.’
Joshua James King, 25, is accused of the assault. He was arrested but released on $1,500 bond but was temporarily detained under Florida’s Baker Act
Andrea’s next memory is of herself standing dazed and trembling on the platform at Brickell station, her face and arms covered in bruises and blood pouring from her ear.
She remembers begging someone not to get on the train. However the two men who boarded at the next stop were not so lucky.
Andrea’s alleged attacker, Joshua James King, punched one in the head before cornering the second and pummeling him to the floor.
His rampage only came to a halt when one of the victims triggered the train’s emergency alarm and cops intercepted King two stations further along.
I wasn’t until 13 days later, when police provided Andrea with CCTV footage from inside the metro, that she was able to see the full horror of what had unfolded.
Cameras from each end show King boarding the train at Financial District at around 10:45pm, hopping off and on again to check if the coast is clear, then making a beeline for petite Andrea.
King, wearing a pink t-shirt, sandals and shorts, unleashes a flurry of 20 or so punches and slaps, pounding her head and back as she curls into a ball.
In a moment of astonishing brutality, he hurls Andrea across the train before picking her up and throwing her back the other way, slamming her head-first into a seat.
It’s only when the metro reaches Brickell station exactly 57 seconds later that Kings finally relents, standing casually by the doorway as Andrea staggers past him to safety.
I wasn’t until 13 days later, when police provided Andrea with CCTV footage from inside the metro, that she was able to see the full horror of what had unfolded
Andrea’s next memory is of herself standing dazed and trembling on the platform at Brickell station, her face and arms covered in bruises and blood pouring from her ear
It’s only when the metro reaches Brickell station exactly 57 seconds later that Kings finally relents, standing casually by the doorway as Andrea staggers past him to safety
‘When I saw the videos I realized that he planned to kill me. It was like watching someone being killed only I am still alive,’ she explains.
‘The reason why he did this could be my color, could be that I’m a woman, I don’t know. It was the worst 57 seconds of my life.’
There was to be one last shock in store for Andrea as she wandered home in tears, only to spot a police car parked outside Fifth Street station.
She headed to the platform to beg for help - and was stunned to find 25-year-old King sat handcuffed to a fence.
Officers were just about to detain the 210lb bully on felony aggravated battery charges for his attack on the two male victims, unaware that he had also brutalized Andrea.
‘I recognized him and he recognized me for sure. I told the police that he did it to me also and then I took his picture,’ Andrea recalls.
‘I wasn’t scared, I was angry. I wanted everyone to see him. I said, that’s him, that’s the guy that attacked me.’
Andrea posted the videos of her beating on social media along with her remarkable cell phone images of King glaring menacingly back at her.
The footage soon went viral and she received messages of support from across the US and her native Colombia.
Weeks later, she is still in constant pain due to a broken rib, a fractured jaw and injuries to her back.
She suffers lingering effects from the concussion and can barely sleep.
She headed to the platform to beg for help - and was stunned to find 25-year-old King sat handcuffed to a fence. Officers were just about to detain the 210lb bully on felony aggravated battery charges for his attack on the two male victims, unaware that he had also brutalized Andrea. ‘I recognized him and he recognized me for sure. I told the police that he did it to me also and then I took his picture,’ Andrea recalls
King is currently being supervised by mental health professionals and will be monitored via GPS tag to ensure he doesn’t breach a stay away order barring him from going near Andrea or the two other victims, Eduardo Trevino and Nelti Medran. He denies the charges
Andrea, now trying to get back to her usual routine of caring for her dogs, remains skeptical. ‘He is not crazy. He planned everything. He was careful. He attacked those other two men because he was angry he couldn’t kill me,’ she tells DailyMailTV. ‘He deserves to be in jail. I wish it would be for the rest of his life'
‘It’s not easy. After I saw the video I cried every night. But I try to be very strong,’ she adds.
‘He punched the wrong person because I’m going to make sure everyone knows his face. This cannot happen to another person.’
King, of Tallahassee, Florida was released on $1,500 bond but was temporarily detained and assessed under Florida’s Baker Act.
It emerged afterwards that he had a fully loaded clip in his pocket for a semi-automatic handgun.
Cops did not find a weapon, however, and prosecutors determined that King was legally entitled to carry the ammunition because he had no history of felonies.
King is currently being supervised by mental health professionals and will be monitored via GPS tag to ensure he doesn’t breach a stay away order barring him from going near Andrea or the two other victims, Eduardo Trevino and Nelti Medran.
He denies the charges.
At a bond review hearing Wednesday a judge said it appeared that King was in the midst of a ‘complete mental breakdown’ and was suffering from ‘severe mental health issues’ when the beating happened.
But he also assured Andrea that court appointed forensic psychologists would be looking carefully for any indicators that her alleged attacker was faking his illness.
Andrea, now trying to get back to her usual routine of caring for her dogs, remains skeptical.
‘He is not crazy. He planned everything. He was careful. He attacked those other two men because he was angry he couldn’t kill me,’ she tells DailyMailTV.
‘He deserves to be in jail. I wish it would be for the rest of his life.’
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