A Long Island man allegedly plotted for months to kill his sister and then fired a crossbow at her face, tearing her ear and narrowly missing a fatal strike.
Samy Sedhom, 21, stands charged with attempted murder after the Feb. 13 attack at a West Avenue home in Nassau County.
Officers responding to what police described as an aided case found a 28-year-old woman bleeding from a deep cut on the right side of her face.
“According to detectives, officers responded to a West Avenue residence for an aided case. Upon arrival, officers located a 28-year-old female bleeding from a laceration on the right side of her face,” a Nassau County Police Department release stated.
Investigators later determined the injury came from a crossbow bolt that grazed her face as she entered the garage after returning from the gym.
The victim told authorities she felt a sudden sharp pain and realized she was bleeding, then called police.
She reported seeing her brother sitting in a parked car across the street moments before the shot was fired.
Police located an arrow embedded in the garage wall, according to local reports.
Detectives searched Sedhom’s bedroom and seized a crossbow box, a Katana samurai sword and a computer.
Authorities took Sedhom into custody without incident and charged him with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree tampering with evidence and first-degree stalking.
Prosecutors revealed the bolt tore the victim’s ear and came within inches of killing her.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly described the wound as dangerously close to becoming a homicide.
Court documents obtained by local media allege Sedhom admitted he fired the crossbow and had been planning to kill his sister since Christmas.
Donnelly told News 12 the motive stemmed from a “brother-sister rivalry” over thermostat settings inside the home.
“She liked to keep it cooler, he wanted it warmer,” Donnelly told the outlet.
Sedhom faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.
He pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance and remains jailed without bail. A temporary order of protection currently shields the victim.
His attorney insisted the incident was a prank gone wrong and rejected claims that arguments over the temperature sparked the violence.
The Long Island case follows a series of crossbow attacks nationwide that have stunned communities.
In Florida last fall, authorities charged 61-year-old George Balboni with attempted murder after he allegedly tried to kill his roommate with a crossbow.
Deputies arrived at a Largo Road home around 6 a.m. and found a 69-year-old man bleeding in the front yard with arrows scattered nearby.
Investigators said Balboni lured the victim to a vehicle under the guise of needing a ride to the hospital for a rib injury that later proved false.
Once the roommate sat behind the wheel, Balboni allegedly aimed and fired.
The arrow missed its mark, causing only a minor cut to the victim’s ear.
A fight broke out, and the victim wrestled the crossbow away and struck Balboni with it.
Balboni admitted firing the weapon and told deputies he tried to kill his roommate, whom he described as a “parasite,” according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said he also admitted he felt no remorse.
Authorities alleged the dispute began after the roommate removed a vodka bottle from Balboni’s trash because he believed it would upset their landlord.
Investigators said Balboni told them he had consumed nearly the entire bottle that day and grew enraged.
Sheriff Rick Ramsay addressed the case in a statement. “Violence is never the answer to a roommate dispute,” Ramsay said. “It’s much easier to separate yourself from the situation, but this person did the total opposite and now faces very serious criminal charges.”
In Arkansas, police accused 29-year-old Joseph Alexander of shooting his mother in the face with a crossbow after an argument involving a cat.
Officers began investigating March 24 after calls reported a woman with “multiple arrows protruding from her face and head.”
Paramedics rushed the injured mother to a hospital as detectives interviewed her from her bed.
She told officers she opened her bedroom door after hearing the cat meowing and suddenly “felt like her ear drum had popped and saw blue.”
“When I did, I got popped two more times; it was an arrow sticking out of my head,” she told police.
She described playing dead as her son demanded money and threatened her husband, allegedly saying, “I won’t kill you because that will be a double homicide.”
Her husband later told officers he found Alexander standing over his wife with a crossbow and arrows protruding from her head.
Alexander allegedly forced his father to transfer $2,000 via Cash App, then sent himself another $1,400 before taking his father’s credit card and truck.
Deputies in Missouri later spotted the stolen truck and pursued Alexander until he crashed.
After his arrest, Alexander allegedly told a paramedic he shot his mother with what he called a “toy crossbow.”
“It did not go in all the way, and she was just laying there screaming, so I pulled it back and did it again,” he allegedly said.
Detectives pressed him on his motive. “I didn’t have a reason,” he reportedly told investigators. “I just lost my cool. I woke up, and I thought that she was like going after my cat for some reason. I just like literally just stood up and lost my shit because of my cat.”
A detective responded with disbelief.
“You shot your mom in the head three times because of a cat?,” the detective asked.
“Ya, like that is the best process I understand of what happened,” Alexander replied, according to police.
Alexander was booked on charges including attempted capital murder and pleaded not guilty, but was later deemed unfit to stand trial.
