Rather than face the consequences for charges related to the brutal rape of a woman in Tempe, it looks like 23-year-old Lane Halona killed himself this weekend.
Halona was arrested on March 17, the morning after he punched a woman in the back of the head, pulled her behind some bushes, and sexually assaulted her, according to court documents obtained by New Times.
When the woman tried to get away, Halona punched her several more times.
The woman reported the attack to police the next morning, while she still had blood on her face and her face had started to bruise.
Sure enough, police found Halona still asleep in the exact spot where the attack occurred, near Farmer Avenue.
According to court documents, Halona actually was sleeping on top of some of the victim's belongings, including her tote bag.
Halona told police he didn't know where all the stuff came from, although he denied assaulting the woman. Meanwhile, his shirt was ripped, his zipper was down, his pants were unbuttoned, and he had blood on himself.
After the woman identified Halona as the guy who did it, he was taken to jail in Tempe.
This weekend, after being transported to the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix, Halona was found "unresponsive" in his cell, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Halona was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, and MCSO says it's being investigated as a suicide. MCSO spokesman Joaquin Enriquez says the Sheriff's Office isn't releasing any more information at this point.
Halona, who obviously was facing multiple felony counts, was denied bond a few days before the apparent suicide.
Additionally, he'd been out of prison for a grand total of three days before attacking the woman in Tempe.
Federal court documents show that in April 2010, Halona was arrested on the Navajo Nation for attacking his in-laws with an ax. He ended up hitting his father-in-law, as well as another man who tried to intervene, and they were both hospitalized as a result.
