CHARLOTTE, N.C. — More than four years after a U.S. Air Force major was sexually assaulted while sleeping in a Marriott hotel room, a $160 million federal lawsuit over the incident is approaching a November 2026 jury trial.
The attacker, Jermaine Lamont Peay Jr., was sentenced on January 6, 2025, to 38 to 58 months in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree burglary and sexual battery.
The lawsuit against Marriott International and several hotel-related companies remains active. On October 19, 2026, the officer and his wife filed a stipulation dismissing Parking Management Company from the case, leaving claims against the remaining defendants unresolved.
According to federal court records reviewed by The Salty Soldier Uncensored on October 21, the case is scheduled for trial on November 23, 2026, before U.S. District Judge Susan C. Rodriguez in Statesville, North Carolina.
The remaining hotel defendants have asked the judge to rule in their favor without a trial. The docket does not show a final ruling on those requests.
Stranded on His Way to Air Force Training
The incident began April 7, 2022, when the Air Force major was traveling from Mississippi to Orlando, Florida, for two days of mandatory military training.
Repeated flight cancellations stranded him at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The Air Force excused him from the training and authorized his return home, but another canceled flight prevented him from departing Charlotte that evening.
According to the complaint, the officer had hoped to return home in time for a father-daughter dance at his church.
With no available flight, he booked a room at the Charlotte Marriott City Center, a downtown hotel at 100 West Trade Street.
The officer was a frequent Marriott customer who held Titanium Elite status in the company’s loyalty program. His lawsuit states that he chose the hotel because he trusted the Marriott brand to provide safe accommodations while traveling.
The officer, identified in the federal lawsuit as John Doe, had served in the military for more than 20 years.
His military career included service in the Army National Guard and Air National Guard before he became a judge advocate in the Air Force Reserve, providing legal support on civil-law and military-justice matters.
Outside the military, the officer was an experienced attorney whose civilian practice involved complex litigation in state and federal courts. His work included defending corporate clients, preparing witnesses, and handling commercial and product liability litigation.
The legal background is notable because the officer’s professional experience included defending businesses in civil litigation, while he is now pursuing a civil action against Marriott and other hotel-related companies.
The officer’s name is being withheld from this report. He and his wife received court approval to pursue their lawsuit under pseudonyms.
Assaulted While Sleeping in His Hotel Room
Editor’s Note: This article has been edited to omit graphic descriptions of the sexual assault while preserving the essential facts documented in court records. The full unedited article can be read on our uncensored site.
According to the federal complaint, the major went to sleep alone in Room 1829 at the Charlotte Marriott City Center on the night of April 7.
Unbeknownst to him, the room’s self-closing, self-locking door allegedly was malfunctioning. Rather than securely closing and locking, the door failed to latch properly.
During the early morning hours of April 8, the officer awoke to an unknown man sexually assaulting him while he slept.
The officer reportedly screamed and fought back, striking the intruder and forcing him away.
The man fled the room, allegedly taking the officer’s wallet and some of his clothing.
Investigators subsequently identified the attacker as Jermaine Peay.
The lawsuit alleges Peay was not a registered hotel guest and did not possess a key card authorizing him to enter the guestroom.
According to the complaint, Peay entered the hotel through its parking garage and traveled through multiple floors of the building without being stopped or questioned by security personnel.
The officer’s attorneys allege that Marriott and other hotel-related defendants knew Peay had previously trespassed on the property and should have recognized the potential danger he posed to guests.
Those allegations concerning the hotel’s knowledge and security failures remain central to the unresolved civil litigation.
Hotel Employee Allegedly Recognized the Attacker
After Peay fled, the officer contacted the hotel’s front desk and reported the assault.
According to the lawsuit, a front-desk employee told him that police would be contacted.
The same employee allegedly made a troubling statement about the intruder:
“We know who he is.”
The complaint alleges that hotel personnel had information about Peay before the assault but failed to prevent him from accessing guest areas.
A hotel security officer subsequently arrived, and the major described what had happened.
The complaint states that the security officer advised him to shower before police arrived, purportedly out of concern about possible disease exposure.
The lawsuit also alleges that responding Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers discovered the door to the major’s room was not properly latching.
The officer’s attorneys contend that the guestroom door was equipped with electronic sensors capable of recording whether it was open or closed. They argue that hotel personnel knew or should have known the room was unsecured before the assault occurred.
Whether the hotel operators had that knowledge, and whether their actions contributed to the assault, remain disputed questions in the civil case.
Lawsuit Alleges Previous Security Problems
The lawsuit goes beyond allegations involving a single malfunctioning hotel door.
According to the plaintiffs, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to 85 calls at the hotel property between July 2017 and July 2022.
The complaint identifies 29 calls involving theft or trespassing and 15 involving assaults, including reports of sexual assault.
The reporting period includes several months after the April 2022 incident, meaning the figures do not establish that all the reported incidents occurred before the major’s assault.
The plaintiffs nevertheless contend that the property’s history of crime-related calls should have alerted hotel operators to potential security problems.
The officer alleges that Marriott and other hotel-related defendants failed to provide adequate security, monitor unauthorized access, and maintain functioning guestroom locks.
A separate lawsuit filed by a former hotel employee raised additional questions about the events preceding the assault.
In September 2024, WSOC-TV reported that the former employee alleged she had sought assistance removing an intruder from the property on the night of the incident but was unable to obtain help from management or security.
The former employee also alleged she was fired after the officer’s lawsuit became public, partly because hotel management feared she might testify about what happened.
Those claims are separate allegations and have not been established as findings in the officer’s federal lawsuit.
Peay Sentenced to Prison in January 2025
Court records reviewed by The Salty Soldier Uncensored show that Peay initially faced multiple criminal charges arising from the April 8, 2022 incident.
One prosecution included a charge of second-degree forcible sexual offense, a Class C felony under North Carolina law.
On January 6, 2025, Peay pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, a Class D felony, and sexual battery, a Class A1 misdemeanor.
Prosecutors dismissed the second-degree forcible sexual offense charge as part of the negotiated plea agreement.
Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge W. Robert Bell sentenced Peay to a consolidated prison term of 38 to 58 months.
The signed sentencing judgment also awarded Peay credit for 879 days already spent in confinement.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office confirmed the convictions and sentence in a January 16, 2025 announcement. The office also stated that Peay would be required to register as a sex offender for 30 years.
Attacker Faces Separate Criminal Charges in 2026
Peay has also been charged in an unrelated 2026 criminal case.
Mecklenburg County court records show that he was arrested July 18, 2026, following an alleged breaking and entering at an apartment complex leasing office in Charlotte.
A grand jury returned an indictment on August 3 charging him with felony breaking or entering, misdemeanor larceny, and felony larceny after breaking or entering.
The allegations concern a separate incident and are not connected to the Marriott assault.
That prosecution was listed as pending in court records reviewed for this report, with a scheduling conference set for November 2, 2026.
Peay has not been convicted of the new charges in the records reviewed.
$160 Million Lawsuit Approaches Trial
The Air Force major and his wife filed their federal lawsuit on March 26, 2024, in the Western District of North Carolina.
They seek $40 million in compensatory damages and $120 million in punitive damages, alleging that security failures at the hotel allowed Peay to enter the officer’s room and assault him while he slept.
The officer alleges lasting physical and psychological injuries, emotional distress, and diminished quality of life. His wife also claims that the incident damaged their marital relationship.
The amount sought is a demand by the plaintiffs, not a court award.
The lawsuit has continued through extensive disputes over evidence, changes to the defendants, and motions seeking judgment in favor of the remaining hotel-related companies.
On March 23, 2026, Judge Rodriguez granted a request allowing the plaintiffs to take Peay’s deposition, authorizing their attorneys to question the convicted attacker under oath.
The parties also participated in mediation in April 2026, but court filings reported that they reached an impasse.
In May, Marriott International, Marriott Hotel Services, and other hotel-related defendants filed motions for summary judgment, seeking rulings that could resolve the claims against them without a jury trial.
The court also ordered several documents sealed because they contained confidential information about the plaintiffs’ identities.
The most recent substantive filing identified in the October 21 docket review was the October 19 stipulation dismissing Parking Management Company. The docket does not establish whether that dismissal involved a settlement or financial payment.
Marriott International and the remaining hotel-related defendants continue to face the unresolved lawsuit, subject to the court’s rulings on their pending motions.
The jury trial remains scheduled for November 23, 2026, at 9:30 a.m., in federal court in Statesville, North Carolina.
Whether the case reaches a jury will depend on further court rulings or any agreement reached by the parties.
More than four years after the assault, the criminal prosecution has resulted in convictions and a prison sentence. The separate question of whether Marriott and the hotel’s other operators bear civil responsibility remains unresolved.
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