'NCIS' Star Pauley Perrette Opens up About Recovering From Her Traumatic Attack by Homeless Man

One year ago, NCIS star Pauley Perrette was allegedly attacked outside her house by a homeless man, who physically harmed the actress and repeatedly told Perrette he was going to kill her.

"So, tonight was awful, life changing and I'm only grateful to be alive," Perrette tweeted at the time.

She added that her alleged assailant, David Merck, "grabbed me in the arm, pinned my arm, punched me in the nose, forehead repeatedly telling me he was going to kill me," adding that he kept repeating the name, "William."

Now, one year later, Perrette revealed how she is recovering after the traumatic incident, sharing at TrevorLIVE in Beverly Hills on Sunday night that she has done a lot of healing after the "extremely traumatic" attack.

"There were a lot of feelings and a lot of emotions, but I feel like at the end of it all, as strange as it sounds, if that incident had to happen in the universe, I feel like it had to be me," PEOPLE reports Perrette saying. "I feel like it was supposed to be me somehow because I have a lot of experience working with the homeless, working with the mentally ill. This instance, de-escalation that had to happen right then."

"I think whatever the circumstances are, when you almost get killed, when someone almost kills you, and you're alive, and you walk away, it really gives you a lot of perspective," she added.

Merck has been charged with one felony count each of making a criminal threat and false imprisonment by violence. He pled not guilty to the charges.

This story first appeared at Womanista.