LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 37-year-old Louisville woman who was found chained and locked up inside a home is sharing her story of survival as police look for the man responsible.
Jonna Wilson was rescued by police and firefighters Wednesday, Aug. 16, inside a home near the Park Hill and Algonquin neighborhoods off Dixie Highway.
Jonna Wilson spoke on Aug. 17, 2023, outside of a home where she was chained up and Louisville police and firefighters rescued her. (WDRB photo)
"I said, 'This is my only time, if I didn't get free now, I'll be dead,'" said Wilson. "He made me strip naked, he put the chain around my neck, he called his friend and said, 'I've got to take this equipment back to Lowe's. When I come back, I'm going to kill you.' I only had a few minutes to get out."
In a statement Thursday evening, Louisville Metro Police said officers responded to the home on Bolling Avenue around 7 p.m. after getting calls from neighbors about a woman screaming for help.
LMPD said officers saw Wilson "in distress" from a second-story window. Video of her rescue captured by neighbors went viral online.
"The neighbors right here, they called 911 and they came and got me," Wilson said. "If not, he would have killed me." She said she was chained up for about five hours.
Wilson used to share the home where she was found with her estranged boyfriend. In the video, a police officer climbed up a ladder to rescue her as firefighters broke down the front door.
"Every door was screwed shut," Wilson said. "The fire department couldn't even knock down the doors, that's how bad it was screwed, every window was bolted, every exit, there is no exit in the house."
LMPD said Thursday the front door of the home was barricaded. Officers had to use a ladder to get inside, where they found Wilson chained to the floor with the chain around her neck, secured with a MasterLock. Police said the chain was bolted to the floor with screws and officers had to rip it up to rescue Wilson.
The outside of a home on Bolling Avenue where Louisville police and firefighters rescued a woman who was chained up. (WDRB photo)
"He has a key to get inside and outside," Wilson said. "You have to have a key to get out, as soon as I seen him lock the door, I knew I wasn't going to get out. He said, 'You want to do this the hard way or do this the easy way?' I said, 'I want to do this the easy way,' so I let him put the chain around my neck and he started choking me with it."
Wilson said she had gone to the house to help him clean after he asked.
"I was gone for four days, I saw him on his bike," she said. "He said, 'Will you please come over and clean the house, I'll pay you, that's all I want.'"
Wilson said she shares a daughter with him.
"It's hard when you think you know somebody and you don't," she said.
Wilson said when she had her daughter a year ago, she didn't know she was pregnant and had to give birth inside the bathroom.
"She was 3 pounds, 3 ounces. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around her throat. She was dying on me. He wouldn't even come help me or bring me the phone so I could call 911," she said. "It took them 25 minutes to get to me, but she's perfectly fine now." She said her child is staying with family.
Wednesday, rescuers brought Wilson to the front of the house and cut the chain from around her neck.
Jonna Wilson spoke on Aug. 17, 2023, outside of a home where she was chained up and Louisville police and firefighters rescued her. (WDRB photo)
"They had to use big bolt cutters to get it off where he had it bolted to the floor," Wilson said.
Neighbors were shocked to hear about what happened.
"This is the scariest thing I've ever seen," said Bridgette Parker. "You hear a lot of stuff but not that kind of stuff."
Wilson said the only clothing she has is the clothing she's wearing because her estranged boyfriend set the rest of it on fire.
"I don't think it's right what he did," she said. "It's not right, he cut all my hair off with a machete. My hair was down all the way to my back."
WDRB News contacted domestic violence advocates to make sure Wilson was offered emergency assistance. She said the detectives are also helping her.
LMPD said Thursday its Domestic Violence Unit has been working "non-stop" on the case, which is considered "open and active."
Police said the man accused of chaining up Wilson, 36-year-old Moises May, was arrested on Friday.
Free2Hope is collecting donations for Wilson and for any victim of domestic violence or human trafficking.
"She can come here to get a shower, she can put on clean clothes that we'll get her, she can have a hot meal Monday, Wednesday, Friday," Amy Leenerts, founder of Free2Hope, said. "We'll be there for her, just like we are for all the women in this community."
At Free2Hope in the Portland neighborhood, there's messages of positivity like "I love you" written on the fence. It's a constant reminder for women who are struggling.
"On a normal day, we'll have between 20-30 women," Leenerts said. "Some of them new, some have been coming a long time, sometimes it takes them a long time to really tell their story. Some of them are not active with trafficking right at the moment but I have several that were trafficked as children by a parent."
WDRB met with Wilson again on Friday afternoon and she said police are helping her. She said she's been given one outfit after her estranged boyfriend burned all of her clothes.
"I just want to see him get in jail," Wilson said. "I just want justice, I want my daughter to be OK."
If you or someone you know has been impacted by domestic violence, there are multiple 24 hour hotlines that you can call.
- LMPD crisis line: 1-844-237-2331
- National DV Hotline: (800) 799-7233
- Center for Women and Children: (844) 237-2331
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