The victim was raped at knifepoint shortly after her family opened their home to a homeless man to help him get back on his feet.

A kind gesture toward a homeless man turned into a nightmare situation for one Federal Way family.

The family welcomed 34-year-old Rene Maya-Estrada into their home to help him get back on his feet on Oct. 10. Two days later he allegedly waited for the family’s 17-year-old daughter to come home from work and raped her at knifepoint, according to King County Superior Court charging documents.

Maya-Estrada was charged with first-degree rape on Monday, Oct. 21 in King County Superior Court. He is being held in jail at the Kent Regional Justice Center in lieu of $500,000 bail.

Prosecutors said Maya-Estrada poses an extreme flight risk, as he has a Mexican passport and appears to lack ties to Washington state; he told court services he has only lived in Washington for eight months. According to the FBI’s criminal data, it appears the suspect was subject to removal proceedings from the country in 2005, according to charging documents. He may also have a fugitive warrant on drug charges from Colorado, according to jail records.

The girl told police she had just come home from work the night of Oct. 12 and was alone in her family’s apartment with Maya-Estrada. When she hung up her cell phone, the suspect allegedly came into her bedroom, grabbed her, put his hand over her mouth while pressing a knife against her, the documents continue.

He then allegedly pinned her onto her bed, took her clothes off and forced his penis into her mouth, according to charging documents. She initially resisted, but he allegedly punched her. The girl said she heard a noise outside the apartment after Maya-Estrada allegedly finished his first attack, and told him it was her family returning home in hopes of scaring him. He then allegedly threw clothes at her and forced her, again by knifepoint, to the laundry facility of the family’s apartment complex at View at the Lake, where he allegedly pinned her to the wall and raped her again.

Maya-Estrada allegedly told the teen he would kill her if she did not do as he said.

The teen managed to escape when a car pulled in to park just outside the laundry room. She told the suspect it was her cousins, so he released her and she walked towards the car, pretending to get in until she was out of the suspect’s site. A neighbor took the girl into her apartment and helped her call 911. Police could not locate Maya-Estrada following the incident.

However, four days after the attack, the girl called 911 again after Maya-Estrada allegedly stalked her at her workplace and told her he wanted to apologize to her father for what he had done, the documents continue.

The defendant was arrested four blocks away from the girl’s workplace. He confessed to raping her but said he did not remember holding a knife during the attack.





