Man sentenced to 30 years for brutal domestic violence assault

KENT -- A Des Moines man who brutally assaulted his girlfriend will spend the next 30 years behind bars.

King County Superior Court Judge James Cayce handed down the exceptional sentence to 50-year-old Roosevelt Reed at the Kent Regional Justice Center Friday.  During sentencing, Reed’s victim spoke directly to her attacker.

“I’ve never seen someone get a beating like this and live to tell about it.  When you have six bones broken in your face, your life becomes a totally different story.  When you have a two-inch part of your face missing and have it put together with a plate, you feel it every day,” said the victim.

On Sept. 5, 2012 Roosevelt Reed got into an argument with his girlfriend in their apartment.  Reed beat her so severely he shattered her nose, jaw, and eyesocket.

This wasn’t his first domestic violence attack.  He has two previous convictions in 1993 and 1999.  In the latter case, Reed broke a woman’s skull with a piece of concrete.  He served 13 years in prison for that crime and was released in late 2011.

On the day of the 2012 attack, Reed called 911 telling police an intruder had beaten his girlfriend.  His victim couldn’t recall details of the attack and was scared to turn Reed in, but eventually told detectives the truth.

In court, Reed turned away from his victim when she spoke, but she stared straight at him as she talked about what happened.

“It would be nice to smile and have the right side of my face smile and not look like I had a stroke, but just because you took my physical smile, you did not take my spirit,” she said.

Because of Reed's violent history, the judge rejected the defense request for a 20-year sentence.