The conviction stems from a 2017 incident in which a woman was attacked in her home.

BROOKSVILLE – A Brooksville man was convicted of attempted felony murder in connection with the attack on a woman in her home in June 2017, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office said.

A jury Tuesday (Oct. 2) convicted Lee Roy Rettley, 53, of Brooksville, of attempted felony murder, burglary of a dwelling with battery, sexual battery with force-likely to cause injury, robbery by sudden snatching, and false imprisonment. Rettley is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 5.

The conviction arose from a June 22, 2017 incident to which Hernando County Sheriff’s deputies responded after receiving calls of a woman in distress on Brook Drive in Brooksville.

Upon arrival, deputies said they found an injured woman who was bleeding from her face. Her shorts had been torn off. She was taken to the hospital.

Witnesses told deputies they heard the woman calling for help, so they entered her home to try to help her. When the witnesses got inside, they said they saw a man, later identified as Rettley, climbing out the bedroom window.

Detectives interviewed the woman at the hospital. She told deputies that she had been outside earlier in the morning, had gone to a neighbor’s for a short time, then returned home. While she was near the neighbor’s residence, she saw Rettley looking at the neighbor’s air conditioning vents.

Back inside her own home, she found Rettley had also come inside. She picked up her phone to call 911 and Rettley attacked her. During the extensive struggle, the woman hit Rettley in the head with a box. She said Rettley told her, “I’m going to kill you because you are going to call the cops when I leave.”

During the struggle she continued calling for help although she was unable to scream or speak loudly, as Rettley was choking her.

When her friends entered her residence, Rettley fled out the bedroom window. Before he fled out the window, Rettley stole $900 from the top of the dresser, deputies said.

Patrol deputies, detectives, and K-9 teams scoured the area, searching for Rettley. He was found hiding in a nearby storm drain.

The woman and the witnesses all identified Rettley as the attacker.

When detectives interviewed Rettley, he told them that he “snapped.” Deputies said that Rettley admitted to portions of the attack and to stealing the money from the dresser. He also told detectives the woman hit him in the head with something.

Detectives recovered a portion of the money from Rettley’s sock.

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