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James Ransone saved a woman from sexual assault in 2006; now, the woman is breaking her silence in the wake of his death“I am so grateful that this man existed and don’t know if the trajectory of my life would be the same if he hadn’t,” Molly Watts wrote in an Instagram post shared on Tuesday, Dec. 23The late actor died by suicide on Friday, Dec. 19, at the age of 46
James Ransone is being remembered as a hero following his death.
On Tuesday, Dec. 23, a woman named Molly Watts shared a post via Instagram, revealing that the late actor saved her from her sexual assault outside his New York apartment in 2006.
“I found out yesterday that @jamesransone died,” she began in her caption alongside a photo of The Wire actor. “I’m usually private but I want to publicly say I am so grateful that this man existed and don’t know if the trajectory of my life would be the same if he hadn’t.”
Watts added that she and Ransone were neighbors in Chinatown when she “was attacked at the threshold of our building. I screamed for help. No one came.”
James Ransone.
Jon Kopaloff/Getty
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“My attacker put his hands around my throat so I would stop making noise. I couldn’t breathe. I remember the certainty that I was going to die or be raped as I was choked unconscious,” she recalled.
Watts continued, “PJ (Ransone’s nickname) heard my screams and ran to help. He came running shirtless, carrying a bat or pipe… He scared my attacker, who ran. PJ chased him to the building he fled to. Because of the chase, the police were able to identify him, a repeat sexual offender.”
“PJ saved me,” she said. “I’m not sure if I would have the same life if he hadn’t run down that night. Even as an adult, I’m not sure how I would have handled the weight of what could have happened or how long it would take to heal — I was already emotionally fragile.”
James Ransone.
Emma McIntyre/FilmMagic
Ransone has spoken to several news outlets about the incident in the years following. While on the Jim and Sam Show in 2016, he recounted the event: “I was watching TV with my then-girlfriend at the time. I was in just pajama bottoms. It was like April, and it was raining a little bit. And I hear this scream for help. I hear this commotion, and I run.”
On Friday, Dec. 19, Ransone died by suicide at the age of 46. The actor publicly spoke about his past struggles with addiction and alleged past childhood abuse.
In her post, Watts said, “What’s especially hard for me with PJ’s passing is that he lived with that kind of violence. What I was spared, he endured in a different form, at an age where there is no emotional defense, and the self is still forming.”
“I get the sense that PJ’s like was haunted by what happened to him then. This world is rarely gentle to people who are hurt, vulnerable, acting out.”
“Over the years, I have thought of PJ from time to time,” she continued. “I wanted to reach out to him to let him know how grateful I was that he ran towards my screams. I didn’t. I regret that.”
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