Victims brutally assaulted throughout Cleveland area outraged that judge set suspect free

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Victims who were viciously assaulted by a Northeast Ohio man are now demanding justice, after a judge set that man free.

This past Monday Serus Walters, 20, pleaded guilty to brutally attacking three people throughout the Cleveland area.

A judge let Walters walk − now his victims want to know why, especially since 19 Investigates previously reported this happening at least one time before.

“I was fairly certain he was trying to kill me.”

Walters viciously assaulted David 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,” said Dudley.

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.”

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,” said Dudley.

“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,” said Dudley.

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

“I feel the judge let us down,” said “Tony”, one of the victims who asked us to conceal his identity.

Surveillance video captured Walters beating on Tony in Tower City on March 11, 2024.

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

Tony says 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,” said Tony.

After assaulting Tony, Walters was arrested and released 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,” said Walters. “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,” said Dudley.

We obtained video from the city’s surveillance cameras showing 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.”

Tony identified Walters from our report and police arrested him once again.

And once again, Walters was released, then re-arrested.

This time, 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,” said Dudley.

“He’s going to be out there doing the same thing again.”

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

He was once again booked and released.

We reached out to Walters and both the prosecutor and public defender’s offices but haven’t heard back.

We emailed Judge Collier-Williams several questions, including why she chose to let Walters walk without any sanctions or probation.

Darren Toms, Public Information Officer for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas responded saying, “The Court will let the record speak for itself.”