'He destroyed my face': Houston woman coping with changed appearance following brutal assault

Rachel Busch said a man caused severe injuries to her face after brutally beating her when she refused to have sex with him. Rachel Busch said a man caused severe injuries to her face after brutally beating her when she refused to have sex with him. Photo: Busch Assault Photo: Busch Assault Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close 'He destroyed my face': Houston woman coping with changed appearance following brutal assault 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

A Houston woman is reeling after a violent beating last month left her with broken eye sockets, a broken jaw and most of her teeth knocked out, among a slew of other facial injuries, she said.

"I went unconscious, and then I woke in a pool of my own blood," said Rachel Busch, who has since been released from the hospital following the assault on Jan. 16. "He destroyed my face."

Donovan Micah Jones, 25, was arrested after his mother walked in on him beating Busch in a bedroom on Jan. 16, prosecutors said during his probable cause hearing.

He faces a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, and he remained in Harris County Jail on Friday without bail, jail records show.

Jones' court-appointed attorney, Riddhi Desai, declined to comment on the case.

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Busch said she still hasn't fully processed the assault, but right now, she's focused on her recovery.

"It's hard to look at myself," she said. "It's hard to hear myself at all, because this is not how I sound or look."

A yoga instructor and ballroom dance teacher, Busch said she's not able to do what she loves. She has come home from the hospital, but she's still on a liquid diet with her jaw wired shut, she said. Staples line the top of her skull. She also said she doesn't have full vision in her left eye.

Her close friend started a GoFundMe page for medical bills that collected about $64,519 by Friday afternoon. Busch said she and her attorney have been looking for plastic and oral surgeons who can help her "get my face and smile back," she said.

Jones and Busch first met each other at a coffee shop in early January, she said. She said they hung out one night, and she declined when he asked whether she wanted to go out again.

Days later, on Jan. 16, they both ended up at the coffee shop again. Busch said they went out that night, and everything was fine. Afterward, Busch was tired and accepted Jones' invitation to stay the night at his mother's apartment nearby.

There, Busch said Jones made sexual advances. When she refused to have sex, "he got mad and he went off on me," she said. She only remembers him punching her face before going unconscious, she said.

During Jones' probable cause hearing, prosecutors asked the judge to deny bail because he had been on deferred adjudication stemming from an aggravated robbery in Brazoria County at the time of the alleged assault.

Busch said her emotional scars are only temporary, and she's determined to overcome the incident.

"I'm not going to let him change my life," she said. "I'm going to get back on my feet."

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.