A man who terrorized a Grant Park woman who then used her toes to type a laptop message for help was sentenced Tuesday in the 2010 attack.
A Fulton County Superior Court judge sentenced Dontavius Jackson, 19, to 25 years in prison for armed robbery, aggravated battery and an array of other charges.
Amy Windom’s ordeal and dexterity gained national attention. She appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to explain how she, tied to her bed, was able to type “HELP” and “CALL 911” to her boyfriend, who summoned police to free her.
She woke up just before midnight Aug. 2, 2010, to find Jackson in her bedroom. Prosecutors said he pointed a gun at the woman and then struck her in the head with the weapon as she attempted to run.
Jackson forced Windom from room to room as he stole electronics, money and an ATM card. He also took her cellphone and her 2009 Acura TSX but not before tying her to her bed with her shoestrings.
Jackson, however, had left Windom’s laptop at the foot of the bed. The woman told Channel 2 Action News she hit the control-alt-delete keys on the computer to unlock it, filled out a form on the 911.com website, using a toe to move the mouse and her other foot to type.
Then the woman went on Google chat, found her boyfriend and typed “HELP. CALL 911”, she said.
When police arrived at her Glenwood Avenue home, they found the front door and basement doors open. Windom was found in her bedroom, where she had been bound by her hands for more than five hours.
Jackson was captured on bank surveillance video in Windom’s car and using her ATM card to withdraw money. He was arrested two days later following a photographic lineup.
Jackson was twice convicted on felony burglary and theft charges in previous cases. In the Grant Park case, he was also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, burglary, theft by taking, financial transaction card theft and identity fraud.
Jackson must serve every day of the 25-year sentence without parole because of his criminal past, prosecutors said. He also was sentenced to five years’ probation.
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