Woman dies more than eight years after South Shore assault

A 58-year-old woman died Monday, more than eight years after being assaulted by her boyfriend in a South Shore attack that left her a quadriplegic.

Rhonda Stevenson died at Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 11:52 a.m. Monday, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

She was assaulted by her boyfriend, Leshard Jackson, on July 13, 2007, in the 2300 block of East 69th Street, according to Chicago Police.

Jackson, now 36, was charged with attempted murder and is serving a 20-year sentence at the Big Muddy Correctional Center in downstate Ina, according to police and Illinois Department of Corrections records. He will be eligible for parole on July 12, 2024.

An autopsy found she died of complications of quadriplegia and remote cervical spinal injuries from the assault, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.