N.Y. man attacks daughter with acid

AP

(AP) NEW YORK - A man hurled acid in his daughter's face in a gruesome attack that sent her into a street screaming for help as her skin peeled and her clothes disintegrated, police and witnesses said.

As his 49-year-old daughter sat on his couch in Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon, Jerome Lynch abruptly left the room, returned with a cup of what she thought was water and doused her with it, she later told a cousin, according to the Daily News.

Then the corrosive burning started, and Darlene Lynch ran outside as her clothes disintegrated and her skin fell from her face, witnesses said.

"You could see the smoke coming off her body," Clarissa Shakespeare told the newspaper. "Everyone was just traumatized and scared. Her skin looked like melting wax."

Bystanders poured water on the victim, helped pull away her clothes and covered her with a sheet, witnesses said.

Her 69-year-old father was arrested on an assault charge. Information on his arraignment and lawyer weren't immediately available Sunday.

Darlene Lynch is the main caregiver for her father, who uses a wheelchair and has been deteriorating mentally in recent years, said a cousin, Dominique Goodwin, who was in Brooklyn on a visit from her home in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The daughter was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said. The hospital declined to give an update on her condition Sunday.

Goodwin, told the Daily News that Darlene Lynch may lose her left eye because of the attack.

"(Darlene is) asking why her father did this. She doesn't understand," Goodwin said.

Shakespeare said Jerome Lynch sometimes poured bleach and ammonia in his building's hallway to deter children from playing there. But another niece said he generally welcomed spending time with relatives.

"He's usually laughing, smiling, telling jokes," Celeste Lynch told the Daily News.

[TominTX]

The old duffer will end up in a nursing home at taxpayers expense. Instead he should be taken out and summarily caned within an inch of his miserable life and then abandoned in a nursing home. He will never know what he did nor know why he was caned, just that he was.

[formerlyluvnut]

And of course there is a NC connection.

[bodettes]

This old man had evil deep inside him from long ago. To take a cup of toxic chemicals and deliberately toss it on "we call" beloved daughter is evil coming out. Why didn't he just drink it himself and spare everyone. I would be more inclinded to believe that he was sad and depressed. Like his daughter said "why, why"? It's not our place to forgive him, it's God's and his daughter's.

[wardove]

sad

[voxpopulus]

Sorry, was referring to 88Ronin, not Annydanny.

[voxpopulus]

Sorry, that was meant for 88Ronin

[tmittelstaed]

This kind of thing is why it is never a good idea to take care of an aged relative with mental problems at home. We have one of these and she is in a nursing home right now. She isn't violent, fortunately, but if she was at home she would make many decisions that are not safe decisions for herself. The heartbreaking thing is that she wants to be living at home, she is cognisant enough to understand what is going on. But you cannot allow someone to live at home who can accidentally cut herself and not even notice, since the stroke has damaged the portion of the brain that deals with pain, or who thinks that she is safe to drive her car when she is clearly not, or who cannot remember what she was doing 15 minutes earlier at any given time of the day.

[AnnieDanny]

This is particularly vicious. I wouldn't even know what to use in an attack like this, nor would I want to know. He had to think about this, go prepare it, pour it in a cup or whatever... This is just an especially nasty, hideous attack and the fact that a father did it to his own child... it's totally vile and evil, in my opinion.

God bless this daughter as she recovers. It's a lot to deal with, a lot to live with.

[skeezix06]

"deteriorating mentally in recent years" and "sometimes poured bleach and ammonia in his building's hallway to deter children from playing there". He probably doesn't even realize what he did. My grandmother started spitting on the floor when she started deteriorating. My pre-dementia grandmother would never have done any such thing.

The police and whoever else is considering pressing charges are wasting taxpayer money. He should be in a nursing home Alzheimer's unit where he can't hurt anyone else.

[Well_You_Aint_Me]

Don't understand a thing about dementia do you?

Go hang out in a extended care facility for the elderly, particularly where they are taking care of the many with Alzheimer's. See and learn about dementia. I just hope I die before that settles in on me.

[JV1970]

It sounds like the Daddy should have been placed in a nursing home long ago! He probably will be after this unless a judge finds him mentally competent and able to stand trial. If he is, he'll probably do time in prison.

[gnimelf1968]

He should do time, both the acid and the ammonia/bleach are planned. You can kill with either of them. There is no reason to create poison gas in a hallway to keep kids away. Why would they let this guy keep living there after he did it even once? Even if they put him in a home, he'll probably end up doing something similar to the people there. I know when visiting one of my relatives in a nursing home that the cleaning crew leave chemicals out in the hallways unattended. It wouldn't take much. He'll end up hurting someone who is completely defenseless.