RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond judge Monday 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.
Stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for the latest news and information.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com.
MORE: NBC 4 Local News | Local Crime News
NBC 4 SPORTS: Sports News, Video
NBC 4 POLITICS: Headlines, Interactives & Video
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement