Acid attack nets 10-year prison term
A Richmond judge yesterday sentenced a 67-year-old woman to 10 years in prison for flinging battery acid onto a girl's face, leaving her permanently disfigured.
Prosecutors say Jean Williams threw the acid on then-9-year-old Al'Yana Barnes on June 17, 2007, after accusing Al'Yana and other children of throwing trash into her yard in the 1400 block of Drewry Street in South Richmond.
Al'Yana, now 11, was in the neighborhood visiting a relative that evening. She and some cousins, also children, were walking past Williams' home about 10 p.m. when Williams accused them of throwing a plastic juice bottle in her yard, said Julie McConnell, supervising assistant commonwealth's attorney.
The children said they didn't do it, and one of the children -- not Al'Yana -- picked up the trash and threw it away, McConnell said.
Williams went inside her home and returned with a cup of battery acid, which she threw on Al'Yana, McConnell said.
At first, the children thought it was water. "Then it started burning her skin, her clothes -- her clothes just completely dissolved," McConnell said.
Al'Yana was badly burned on her face, arm and chest. She has undergone about a half-dozen medical procedures since then, including plastic surgery, McConnell said, and she probably will need to have about one procedure each year until she stops growing.
McConnell said Williams denied involvement in the acid attack. But Richmond Circuit Judge Bradley B. Cavedo found her guilty Oct. 27 of aggravated malicious wounding.
Yesterday, Cavedo sentenced Williams to 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended.
McConnell said Williams has no violent criminal history. The prosecutor was at a loss to explain what led to such a vicious attack.
"It was the most random thing in the world," she said.
-- Reed Williams
Reader Reactions
Such cruelty by an adult no less shows the importance of protecting our children. The other curious question is should a 9-year old child be out of the home at 10PM without a responsible adult’s presence? The story did not indicate any parental oversight.
My question is, what in the heck was she doing with battery acid in the house to begin with?? “Williams went inside her home and returned with a cup of battery acid…“
This is a totally dispicable act on anybody at anytime, but especially on young children. She got off too easily, in my opinion. In addition to her 10 years in prison, she should be made to serve 100 hours of community service visiting burn units in hospitals. Also, she should be paying a fine to partially offset the medical expenses of the girl who has undergone 6 procedures so far and will continue until she is about 20. This girl is permanently scarred emotionally and physicially for the rest of her life, while this woman gets off practically scot-free.
Ms. Williams is demonstrably violent and a threat to the lives and health of strangers. She is a proven threat to the public, and should remain isolated from them for their protection, until she can be *proven* to be no longer a threat.
Dear HomeNCfield,
You are definitely right. Just look two stories down - a male gets 21 years for shooting a friend in the leg, which disfigures and permanently hurts him. She only gets 10 years for ruining a child’s entire life. Justice is not always done, and sometimes women get away with a lot less because of their gender. Both cases are sad. The little girl’s future is sadder.
The 10 years suspended is no surprise. It represents the female court discount. As a woman, I constantly hear that women are the victims of violence, not the perpetrators. This is just one example of the truth. Random? Probably not. It’s probably just the first time she’s done something she couldn’t get away with. Just think, she will have completed her sentence before the child is done having surgeries to repair the physical damage. I wish the sentence would require Williams to wear a picture of the child she harmed, along with a plastic bottle to represent what was most important to her. One can only hope the child’s family seeks civil relief.
Ten years to serve is the sentence sought by the Commonwealth’s Attorney, McConnell, and the high end of the sentencing guidelines.
What an evil woman. Only ten years ? Give her the full twenty.
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