The Cleveland FBI announced Monday the arrest of the man accused of shooting a woman who was found seriously injured in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park last month.
Dezay Martell Ely has been charged with attempted murder and discharge of a firearm in connection with the assault.
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Todd Wickerham stressed that it was not a random crime.
"This was a person that knew the victim," Wickerham said. "We're still working through exactly why, what was the motive behind this."
On July 3, at about 9:20 a.m. rangers responded to the area of Akron-Peninsula Road in Boston Township for a report of a woman lying beaten and bloody in an open field.
According to officials, the woman had been shot three times in the head and face. She was put in a medically-induced coma and is still recovering in the hospital. She is also blind.
Law enforcement identified Ely, also known as 'Scrap,' as the person responsible. Records show Ely served seven years in prison for aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter. He was released last November.
According to a 10-page affidavit, the victim told investigators that Ely wanted to test out a .22-caliber gun he had purchased and planned to use in a robbery, before he suddenly shot her.
The victim told police she had tried to stand after being shot but remembered thinking "forget it, I'm about to die."
She was eventually found by hikers.
