News footage of Samy Sedhom heading into court on April 2 (WNBC).
A New York man is accused of nearly killing his sister after allegedly shooting a crossbow at her face, as reported by officials.
Samy Sedhom, 21, appeared in court to confront charges including attempted murder, assault, and unlawful weapon possession related to the incident involving his 28-year-old sister on February 13. The altercation occurred at their family residence in Lawrence, New York. Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly stated that Sedhom allegedly waited for his sister to return from the gym and then aimed a crossbow at her, inflicting a severe facial injury that necessitated emergency medical intervention.
Donnelly indicated that the alleged assault stemmed from a dispute concerning the home’s temperature settings. She noted that Sedhom’s actions “came dangerously close” to being lethal.
Following his indictment by a grand jury, Sedhom was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty to all charges. His lawyer, Stephen Mullkoff, in an interview with NBC’s local affiliate WNBC, claimed that Sedhom’s intention was merely to frighten his sister, not to harm her. Back in February, Mullkoff characterized the situation as a “prank.”
Donnelly expressed skepticism about this explanation, describing it as “utterly unbelievable.”
In a statement issued by the District Attorney’s office, Donnelly condemned the attack as “violent and premeditated.” She asserted that Sedhom allegedly planned his sister’s movements and ambushed her with the intent of causing serious harm, motivated by a vendetta related to their ongoing thermostat disagreement. The assault, she emphasized, was perilously close to being deadly.
Mullkoff said in February that Sedhom “absolutely suffers from an undiagnosed mental health condition,” but Donnelly was also not buying that argument. While speaking to the media outside the courtroom, Donnelly said, “There was too much planning that went into this. It wasn’t, you know, a mental break of some sort.”
Donnelly told the media, “He had to order this crossbow, have it delivered, put it together. So there was planning involved.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Sedhom allegedly told police after his arrest that he had been planning to kill his sister, a registered nurse, since Christmas 2025. The alleged confession was caught on police body camera, the DA said.
On the night of Feb. 13, Sedhom’s sister returned to the family home from the gym and parked her car in the detached garage. As she was entering the code to close the garage door, she suddenly felt a sharp pain on the side of her face and noticed she was bleeding. She called police and told them she saw Sedhom sitting in his car, which was parked across the street from the home.
Sedhom’s sister was taken to the hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for a 6-inch laceration to her face. Local newspaper Newsday reported that according to Donnelly, she is “healing very well,” but “she had to have three layers of stitching to close the wound.”
Prosecutors said Sedhom shot his sister with a “high-performance Barnett Whitetail Hunter Crossbow.” Prosecutors also said that before the alleged attack, he purchased a 3-pack of hunting arrows and a GPS device that he used to track his sister’s vehicle. Police said they found the box for the crossbow in Sedhom’s bedroom.
Sedhom allegedly tried to discard the crossbow at an intersection, but it was later recovered by the Nassau County Police Department.
Sedhom pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, two counts of assault, and criminal possession of a weapon. He was ordered to remain in jail without bail and undergo a psychological evaluation to determine his competency to stand trial. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 30.
