‘He was trying to kill me’: Victims brutally assaulted outraged that judge set attacker free

CLEVELAND (WOIO/Gray News) - Assault victims in northeast Ohio are demanding justice after a judge set that man free.

Serus Walters, 20, pleaded guilty to brutally attacking three people throughout the Cleveland area. However, a judge let Walters walk. Now, his victims want to know why, especially since this has happened at least one other time.

“I was fairly certain he was trying to kill me,” victim David Dudley said.

Walters viciously assaulted Dudley, 64, last year on March 29 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Cleveland.

Dudley is a Los Angeles-based attorney who was in town on business. For 39 years, he’s worked as a criminal defense attorney, representing clients from across the country.

“I have been in front of over one thousand judges,” Dudley said.

But he says the one who’s baffled him the most is Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams.

During Walters’ bench trial earlier this week, he pleaded guilty to assaulting three men, including Dudley.

“He ran towards me and kicked me in the ribs and shoulder and then multiple times in the back of the head,” Dudley recalled.

Dudley suffered severe contusions, and the blows broke the cartilage surrounding his shoulder socket.

“This guy is unpredictably violent,” Dudley said.

This past Monday, Judge Collier-Williams reduced Walters’ felony charge to a misdemeanor, allowing him to walk the streets of Cleveland once again.

“Judge Williams didn’t even put him on any kind of supervision,” Dudley said. “The prosecutor was shocked at that.”

Shocked, he says, because when Walters addressed the court, he failed to take responsibility for his actions.

“He neither apologized to me nor any of the other victims he acknowledged attacking,” Dudley said.

“He showed no remorse, not one shred of remorse,” Dudley said.

Another victim who asked to remain anonymous added, “I feel the judge let us down.”

Surveillance video captured Walters beating the anonymous victim in Tower City on March 11, 2024.

“He broke my glasses,” he said. “I had a few knots on the back of my head; I had a ring around my eye.”

The victim said he’s devastated by the judge’s ruling.

“She just gave him time served, which I think is ridiculous because I feel he’s a menace to society,” the victim said.

Walters was arrested and released after that attack, only to attack again the very next day. This time, he injured a man near Whiskey Island so severely that he required stitches.

Police body cam footage shows officers arresting Walters while he maintained his innocence.

“I didn’t do no crime, bro,” Walters can be heard telling officers. “We’ve been walking this whole time.”

Once again, Walters was arrested – and released.

Dudley claims the Cleveland Department of Police did little to find Walters, whose identity was unknown at the time, so he turned to 19 Investigates for help.

“There was no detective on this case until right before the story ran, and they found out it was going to run,” Dudley said.

Video from the city’s surveillance cameras shows Walters stumbling down the street, falling face down on sidewalks several times near the Justice Center shortly after Dudley’s attack.

“By placing that on your news report, we were able to find him,” Dudley said.

Walters spent two months in jail until earlier this week when Judge Collier-Williams let him go with time served.

“The judge gave him the absolute minimum sentence that was available,” Dudley said.

Walters was arrested again Wednesday, just two days after his release – he’s now facing minor offenses in Garfield Heights. But he was once again booked and released.

The prosecutor and public defender’s offices have not immediately returned a request for comment regarding the situation.

Judge Collier-Williams has also not yet responded to questions, including why she chose to let Walters walk without any sanctions or probation.

“The court will let the record speak for itself,” Darren Toms, public information officer for the Cuyahoga County Court, responded.

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