A former bookkeeper for a Long Island City nonprofit who orchestrated an acid attack on the organization’s director while attempting to coverup an embezzlement scheme is heading to prison.
Bronx resident Kim Williams, 49, was ordered to serve 17 years behind bars, followed by five years’ post-release supervision, after pleading guilty in December 2018 to a first-degree assault charge.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Williams pilfered more than $750,000 from Hospital Audiences Inc. between 2013 and 2015, while she served as an accountant for the Skillman Avenue-based charity that helps disabled individuals access the fine arts.
She then worked with co-defendant Jerry Mohammed, 35, to assault the nonprofit’s executive director, Reverend Alexandra Dyer, with acid on Aug. 19, 2015; Dyer had been investigating the missing funds, and Brown said Williams believed the gruesome assault would stop the investigation.
“Working with another individual, the defendants inflicted serious bodily harm to an unsuspecting woman, and in doing so, left the victim with life-altering injuries to her face and body,” Brown said following Williams’ sentencing on Jan. 17. “The lengthy sentence imposed by the court today is appropriate given the heinous nature of the crime.”
Through an investigation, prosecutors learned that Williams pocketed $600,000 of stolen funds from Hospital Audiences for herself, and gave the remaining $150,000 to a close friend.
Before the attack occurred, authorities said, Dyer had approached Williams and began questioning her about the whereabouts of the missing funds. That led Williams to work with Mohammed and a third individual to plot out the Aug. 19, 2015 acid attack.
Police said that Mohammed splashed Dyer with a caustic substance after the victim exited from Hospital Audiences’ headquarters and attempted to enter her car. The attack left Dyer with severe burns to her face and other extremities, and necessitated numerous surgeries.
Williams and Mohammed were arrested in April 2016 for their roles in the assault. They pleaded guilty during a December 2018 court appearance; Mohammed, a Troy, New York resident, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 20.
