Woman in danger of losing eye after acid attack in HWT
Published:Thursday | July 25, 2024 | 12:11 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
The family and friends of a Kingston woman are praying and hoping for the best amid concerns that she might lose an eye following an acid attack yesterday at her workplace at Pavilion Plaza in St Andrew.
They also believe that she was the target of the attack after she received threats as recently as Monday, allegedly from someone known to her, and who currently resides in the United States.
The St Andrew Central police are probing the attack that resulted in injury to not just one, but two women on Wednesday, one more serious than the other.
The Gleaner understands that they were standing close to each other.
Law enforcement is reportedly following strong leads and will also rely on the use of closed circuit television to assist in the investigation.
“A Gotti we call her. She probably lose one of her eye. Half (a side) of her body burn up,” a family friend told The Gleaner after the incident that left many people, including customers at the centrally located shopping mall, stunned.
According to reports, two men rode a motorcycle to the location and entered the establishment yesterday afternoon.
They made their way to the second floor, entered the establishment, and threw a corrosive substance, which caught the women.
When The Gleaner arrived at the location, the area in which the incident occurred had been cordoned and taped off.
Both injured women were rushed to the Kingston Public Hospital (KPH).
The men, while making their escape, are said to have been challenged by a security guard who reportedly discharged his firearm in their direction in the basement parking area.
A relative told The Gleaner that the woman, who is believed to have been the target of the attack, had ended her relationship with the individual who is suspected of orchestrating the incident.
“Him must have heard that she moved on and send to take back a motor car and an iPhone he had sent her ... . Him threaten her that he would send men to murder her,” the relative, who requested anonymity, told The Gleaner.
Relatives said the woman’s former partner recently left Jamaica and entered the United States via that country’s border with Mexico.
They are also hoping that yesterday’s incident will not lead to a war in the Kingston 13 inner-city community where they are from.
“The [victim and her former partner] have family living there, and people may have to move out,” the family friend said.
Up to press time, The Gleaner was told that relatives who went to the KPH were not allowed to see the victim.