El Cerrito: Teen rape suspect agrees to six-year prison term

RICHMOND — A teen who was charged with sexually assaulting a stranger on an El Cerrito trail has agreed to serve a six-year prison term as part of a plea deal, court records show.

Malachi Attaway, 18, pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon and false imprisonment, and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11, records show. Prosecutors dropped a rape charge against him as part of the deal, authorities said.

Attaway must register as a sex offender for at least 10 years and stay away from the victim, authorities said.

The attack occurred on the early morning of May 18, 2025. Police said at the time that Attaway and the woman didn’t know one another, and that he attacked her for about an hour on a trail near the Del Norte BART Station in El Cerrito. After the assault, the woman ran to nearby homes and began banging on residents’ doors and asking for help, authorities said.

Attaway was arrested three months later, after a DNA match, court records show.