Iowa City woman can’t forget attacker ‘on top’ of her, strangling her in 2022

IOWA CITY — An Iowa City woman, assaulted and robbed on the University of Iowa campus in 2022, testified Tuesday she “sensed” someone was following her after walking across the Iowa Memorial Union pedestrian bridge.

Anne Rizzo, who usually walked home late at night from her family business, Hands Jewelers, said she made the “unfortunate” decision to cut across the grass toward Art Building West, 141 N. Riverside Dr., in Iowa City, because it was cold on April 25, 2022. She then felt like she might be “in trouble” because she was in the “boardwalk” area by the pond of the art building, where she couldn’t easily escape.

Rizzo increased her pace and decided to make eye contact, hoping the man — later identified as Ali Younes — would back off. Younes continued to follow and caught up with her quickly. She couldn’t scream. Nothing came out.

Younes tackled her from behind “like a football player,” Rizzo said. She fell down and he was on top of her, moving her over on her back, “straddling me” and then he started “strangling” her.

“I will never forget him on top of me,” Rizzo said.

Ali Younes, 22, is standing trial this week in Johnson County District Court for charges of attempted murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree theft. Younes waived his right to a jury trial, so 6th Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever will decide the verdict in this bench trial.

McKeever will provide a written ruling, likely in a few months, after testimony wraps up Thursday.

She could feel his hands around neck

Rizzo testified she could feel Younes’ hands around her neck and she tried to make her neck muscles “taut” because she didn’t want her airway to close.

She pushed up against him but he started pushing back, so she stopped, hoping he wouldn’t hurt her more. Rizzo is 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and weighed about 110 pounds at the time.

Rizzo couldn’t speak while being choked, but she mouthed slowly “I will give you anything you want” more than once to Younes, she said.

She was in and out of consciousness, then the next thing she recalled was leaning against someone — a woman who found her after the attack.

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Rizzo said she feared for her life. She recalled being in pain. Her neck and throat hurt and she couldn’t speak and was confused. Rizzo had been wearing diamond earrings — a gift from her husband — valued at about $25,000, but she didn’t realize they were missing until she was in the emergency room.

She also didn’t remember being punched in the eye, but she had a black eye by the time she was taken to the hospital.

Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmerman Smith, during earlier testimony, showed photos of Rizzo about 10 days after the attack. She had a black eye and there was swelling on the inside and outside of the eye. Rizzo also had red “finger” marks around her neck, and bruising and abrasions on the right side of her face and temporal area.

In earlier testimony Tuesday, two women, who were UI students at the time of the attack and were studying that night in the arts building, said they left through the back door and saw a woman — later identified as Rizzo — unresponsive and lying on the ground and a man, later identified as Younes, standing over her.

Madeline Amos testified when Younes saw her and her friend, Katherine Kavars, approaching, he pointed at Rizzo, saying she was walking and fell down. Younes told them he would call 911 and then ran off. They soon realized he wasn’t going to call 911.

Amos identified the man as having dark, curly hair and wearing a puffy jacket. Amos said Rizzo was breathing but unconscious. She asked Kavars to call 911. Rizzo tried to sit up but Amos had her lean against Amos, waiting for paramedics to arrive. She was disoriented and had difficulty speaking.

Kavars said Rizzo did manage to give a paramedic her first name and she told him she was “strangled.”

Video evidence

In other testimony, University of Iowa Police Department Detective Ian Mallory identified surveillance video taken from various campus cameras that appeared to show Younes that night.

In the video, Younes left Burge Resident hall about 9:56 p.m., walked west across the Hancher Auditorium foot bridge, headed down Riverside Drive and seemed to be following a woman going across the Iowa Memorial foot bridge. The video then showed Rizzo walking across the bridge in the opposite direction. After she passed Younes, he changed direction and started following Rizzo.

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Younes started jogging behind Rizzo, about 94 feet from her, said Mallory, who measured and calculated the distance based on the footage. The video then showed Rizzo making a short cut, headed northwest toward the arts building.

Younes is seen looking in her direction as he approached the area.

The video next picked up Younes leaving the area after the assault. He saw or heard police arriving and stopped for a few minutes before heading back toward Burge Hall.

Mallory, who has been involved in the investigation, said after Younes was charged, his bail was reduced and he was put on house arrest with GPS monitoring at his parents’ home in Sutherland, Iowa. On May 6, 2023, Younes cut off his monitor and fled to Jordan with his grandmother. His parents helped him and were later convicted on an escape charge.

Mallory said he stayed in contact with Younes through email and other communication apps. Sometimes, the communications from Younes were multiple times a day and other times, it might be days or weeks in between contact.

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Mallory was trying to talk Younes into coming back to Iowa on his own because there is no extradition treaty between the United States and Jordan.

The communications continued about a year before Younes agreed to self-surrender in Chicago in August 2024. He was then extradited back to Iowa.

After he arrived in Iowa, Mallory interviewed Younes and he confessed to the assault and robbery. Younes recalled the first woman he was following, but he wasn’t interested in her. He then saw Rizzo and attacked her. Younes admitted to putting his hands around her neck.

He told Mallory it wasn’t sexually based. He thought Rizzo had money. He saw her earrings, but thought they were fake and said he was going to give them to his girlfriend.

Younes’ former girlfriend, Maria Ortiz, testified he also confessed the crime to her, saying he “choked her out,” in reference to Rizzo.

Ortiz also said Younes called her April 25, 2022 — after the assault — and asked her to pick him up, but Ortiz said she didn’t know about it until later.

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