At just 20 years old, Davina Licon’s trajectory as an aspiring bodybuilder took a dramatic turn following an ordinary visit to the gym.

Having devoted years to rigorous training regimens that balanced intensive weightlifting and cardio workouts with a carefully structured diet, she was on the cusp of her debut bodybuilding competition, merely two weeks away.

However, on April 7, 2023, as she exited the Planet Fitness in Mililani, Hawaii, she encountered a masked assailant brandishing a firearm directly at her.

The assailant fired, narrowly missing her, but she was then splashed with a hot liquid that burned her skin intensely.

In a state of panic, Licon dashed back into the gym, desperate for help, and begged the front desk to call emergency services before losing consciousness.

When Licon awoke a week later in the ICU, she discovered that she had suffered third-degree burns over 30% of her body, affecting her face, arms, neck, hands, and legs.

‘I just remember waking up and it felt like half of my face had melted off,’ she said at the time. 

Licon, now 22, could not eat or walk for months, and had to relearn the simplest tasks. 

Davina Licon was a victim of an acid attack while leaving her gym in Mililani, Hawaii

The attack let her covered in burns over 30 percent of her body. She bravely reveals her scars

After the attack, she woke up one week later in the ICU, and was in and out of comas dude to the severe burns

Licon in her emerald green sparkling bikini and heels, had been preparing for her first bodybuilding event when she was attacked

Her alleged attacker, Paul Cameron, was 21 when he was arrested in connection with the brutal assault, per the indictment obtained by Daily Mail.

Licon said that she and Cameron had been friends for just five months, but he wanted a romantic relationship. 

‘During these five months he would often show up to places [he knew] I was going to be, he was very obsessive, he was a compulsive liar, and he love bombed me,’ she said in a recent Instagram post ahead of Cameron’s trial later this month.

Despite her kindly telling him she only wanted to stay friends and focus on herself, she claims he attacked her outside the 24-hour fitness club.

‘I almost died, I was in the hospital for three months, in and out of comas going through a bunch of surgeries. I had a total of five surgeries done,’ she said in the Instagram video. 

Still questioning why Cameron had attacked her in such a horrific manner, she plans to testify in court at his upcoming trial on January 28. 

She has previously theorized that he wanted to take her ‘physical attraction away’ and ‘that was the easiest way for him to do it.’

‘I hope he gets life in prison because he sent me to prison. I can’t ever just go back to normal. So it’s not fair if he gets to get out,’ she added. 

Licon is now back in the gym after the attack. She has been trying to gain back the muscle she lost

Licon regularly posts her progress at the gym on her Instagram account

Licon’s bodybuilding dreams were put on hold due to the attack but she is now working out again

Photos of the bloody aftermath of the horrific attack were shared to her GoFundMe account

Cameron was indicted by a grand jury for second-degree attempted murder and two felony firearm charges, but this was only the beginning.

While Cameron was behind bars at Oahu Correctional Community Center, he became romantically involved with Sebastian Mahkwan between November 2023 and January 2024, per the indictment obtained by Daily Mail.

Cameron made a few calls to get Mahkwan out on bail, and they allegedly planned another acid attack on Danying Zhang, a Chinese immigrant who was in Hawaii on an exchange program and taught Mandarin at a private school. 

The two orchestrated the acid attack to cast doubt on Cameron’s involvement in Licon’s attack and attempt to make it appear a predator was at large. 

On January 23, 2024, Mahkwan allegedly waited near the entrance of a Planet Fitness by Ala Moana Center and threw sulfuric acid at Zhang, who was 26 at the time, leaving her near death. 

In May 2025, speaking to the press, her translator described the gruesome moment she was attacked. 

‘She didn’t feel, [she had] no time to react. And [it felt] like hot water for her at first,’ her translator said.

‘Then her clothes started falling off. Then she realized it’s not hot water, so she ran into the Planet Fitness center to shower. 

Danying Zhang, who was in Hawaii on an exchange program, was the victim of a second acid attack allegedly planned by Cameron

Just after 9pm on January 23, 2024, a man threw sulfuric acid on 26-year-old Zhang when she was walking near Ala Moana Center

Cameron and Mahkwan are charged in connection with the attempted murder of Danying Zhang, a teacher from China visiting Honolulu

The two suspects sit side-by-side at a previous court hearing. They will reappear in court on January 28

‘But when the ambulance [came] from the hospital, she was already kind of unconscious, so she doesn’t remember anything after that.’

Zhang suffered severe injuries. Her lungs collapsed because the acid got into her mouth and throat, the indictment obtained by Daily Mail revealed.

Both men were charged with first- and second-degree attempted murder, as well as first-degree assault, per the indictment.

Although their criminal cases are connected, they will be tried separately.

‘It really does speak to his character and what kind of person he is,’ Licon told Island News when she discovered he was allegedly behind the second attack. 

‘He’s willing to take someone else’s life just to save himself,’ she said.

Feeling anxious about the upcoming trial and the potential punishment he might face, Licon admitted in her recent Instagram video that it sometimes feels easier to ignore everything, but doing so would mean letting him win.

She stressed that society needs to talk more about attacks like these so predators ‘don’t get away with the violence and pain they’re inflicting on women.’

Licon has become an advocate for domestic violence awareness and spoken on social media to raise awareness

She said that her attack was not solely about her, but it is about the thousands of women who have also endured a trauma like it

Licon said she will not let her attacker win, and that she will be vocal about the upcoming trial

Licon with her team of nurses and doctors who helped save her life 

‘I will have to testify which I am ready to do but also scared for what emotions, memories, and trauma it will bring back that I’ve been working so hard to overcome,’ she wrote on social media.

‘I’m not only striving for justice for me but for the other survivor. God is on my side. I owe it to him that I am here alive and healthy today.’