WARNING: This story contains accounts of sexual assault and abuse. This content may be distressing to some readers. Resources for support are linked at the end of this article.
Just before the death of Erick Morillo, many female artists in the music industry came out with their stories against him and sexual battery. An investigation lead to ten separate recounts of stories against him, and it included both sexual and physical assaults. Due to appear in court for this matter, he accidentally overdosed on drugs before he was charged. Now, choosing to waiver her anonymity, Kristen Knight (who is a well-known house DJ) spoke out in an interview to Ellie Flynn and detailed her experience in public for the first time.
Knight and morillo had both been DJing at a private Miami party in December of last year, and the night ended with her and another female friend going back to his house. Resisting sexual advances from Morillo, she had later woke up in the evening to find herself naked with Morillo, against her will when she was intoxicated. She stated that she found herself “waking up nude on the bed, with Mr Morillo standing on the side of the bed also nude”. Morillo denied these claims at first, but after a rape kit was found to be tested positive for his DNA, he couldn’t deny it.
Kristen Knight had been swimming in Morillo’s home pool, and then had called Roger Sanchez (her boyfriend) whom Morillo had told that ‘no worries, we’ll make sure she gets home safe’.
“He started questioning my motives, asking why I was there and if I had problems with my boyfriend. It was like getting caught in the web of a spider.” said Knight, who said that his behaviour switched rapidly. After he grabbed her face to try and kiss her without consent, she ran out to order an Uber but Morillo came outside, crying and being apologetic.
“I was outside, waiting for my Uber, and Erick came outside onto the street. He was naked, with a towel in his hand, crying and apologising. I was genuinely concerned and I felt bad for him. I covered him up and walked him back to the outer perimeter of his house. He cried on my shoulder for like half an hour, telling me how difficult his life was and doing whatever he could to get sympathy. He managed to convince me to go back inside the house.” – via DJ Mag
It was that sympathy manipulated by Morillo that unfortunately lead Kristen Knight to becoming a victim. She later had two beers, and reported that she felt more drunk than she should have been, and didn’t even manage to get into bed properly before passing out. It was then that the rape occurred.
“I started to have flashbacks of Erick raping me. I was hyper aware of my body, like somebody had used my body without my consent. This hyper awareness of somebody being there, like somebody has broken into your house. […] I started yelling at him and asking him why I was naked. He said nothing had happened. I freaked out, threw my clothes on and ran downstairs. […] Erick started telling people in the industry and friends that I had called the police on him and was accusing him of rape, which was illegal in itself. People then started contacting me, telling me Erick had called them and told them I was pressing charges. I think he was trying to damage my reputation so people wouldn’t believe me.” – via DJ Mag
To read the full story, you can click here. If you’ve been affected by any issues raised in this story, there are helplines available for survivors here.
Image credit: press
