Suspect in rape at housing authority property rejects plea deal with 20-year sentence

MILFORD — The suspect in the rape of an elderly woman at a West Haven Housing Authority building rejected a plea deal calling for him to serve 20 years behind bars.

The suspect, 29-yearold Giani Morales, appeared before Milford Superior Court Judge Peter Brown via a remote hearing from MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield, where he is being held in lieu of $1.25 million bond on charges of home invasion, first-degree sexual assault, first-degree burglary, and third-degree assault of an elderly victim.

He has been behind bars since his April 27, 2021 arrest at the Surfside Apartments in West Haven, where police said he followed the victim to her apartment, pushed her in as she opened the door, and raped her after she tried to fight him off.

At his arraignment, Judge Maureen Dennis said the details were “one of the most appalling scenarios that I have read in a police report in the 25plus years that I have been a judge.”

During Thursday’s hearing, State’s Attorney Margaret Kelley said she had met with the victim and her family last week to discuss an offer she had made in the case calling for Morales to be sentenced to a 30-year prison sentence to be suspended after he serves 20 years behind bars if he pleaded guilty to charges of firstdegree sexual assault and home invasion.

Morales’ lawyer, Public Defender John Walkley, said he spoke with Morales Wednesday about the offer and that his client was “hoping for a further reduction in the kind of time he was facing. However, I don’t believe the state is in a position to be able to offer less time than what I discussed with Mr. Morales.”

“Giani, is that still the case?” Walkley asked.

“Yeah,” Morales said. “I asked if we could meet somewhere and be able to reason somewhere in between at least.”

Kelley said she and Walkley had discussions about whether the offer could be reduced to 18 years of prison time, which she said was “certainly feasible,” but Morales did not accept it.

“I’ll place the matter on the trial list effective today,” the judge said.

According to a police report in the case, after the sexual assault, the victim said she eventually persuaded Morales to let her open the door to let her dog, who had been locked outside, back into the home. Instead, she made a run for it and yelled for someone to call police from the lobby.

The report said police found Morales passed out inside the woman’s home, where he was taken into custody.

Following the incident, residents of the Oak Street apartment building said they had been complaining of lax security there for years, to no avail.

Housing authority officials promised to increase safety and security at the property in response.