Fiend gets jail
17 yrs. for acid attack on Queens woman
A crooked Queens bookkeeper was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison for a disfiguring acid attack committed as a cruel cover-up for her $750,000 looting of a Queens nonprofit.
Kim Williams, 49, remained silent and showed not a flicker of emotion as she stood in the Queens courtroom where her permanently-scarred victim, the Rev. Alexandra Dyer, sat listening.
“I feel wonderful,” said Dyer, who required multiple surgeries. “It's been a long day coming. I'm thrilled.”
Dyer was the recently-named executive director of the Healing Arts Initiative and Williams was the charity's bookkeeper when the horrific attack occurred on Aug. 19, 2015. Williams plotted the acid assault after her new boss began asking questions about the nonprofit's shaky finances.
Prosecutors charged the defendant siphoned off $750,000 from Healing Arts between 2013 and 2015, keeping $600,000 for herself and funneling the other $150,000 to a friend.
“The lengthy sentence imposed by the court is appropriate given the heinous nature of the crime,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Dyer was leaving the Long Island City-based nonprofit on Skillman Ave. when a stranger approached. “Can I ask you a question?” she said — and then doused her face with the acid.
The victim was accompanied by friends, family and former colleagues to the sentencing. She arrived carrying a number of photos — some showing her before the acid attack, others afterward.
"It's still difficult to fathom that one person would do to another what was done to me," said Dyer, who was left without eyebrows, eyelashes and eyelids by the attack. “My face and body will carry scars for the rest of my life.”
Dyer noted her attacker spent the stolen cash on clothing, pricey handbags and a Mercedes sedan. Williams was also running a side business selling sex toys from her office computer.
The Healing Arts Initiative, which put on performances and workshops for the disabled and elderly, eventually declared bankruptcy due to Williams' embezzlement. Dyer acknowledged she was initially duped by her underling's public face after arriving at the institute.
"She started out saccharine sweet and very quickly devolved into something at the other end of the spectrum," Dyer said of their professional relationship.
Williams was also sentenced to five years of postrelease supervision by Supreme Court Justice Ira Margulis.
A second suspect, Jerry Muhammad, pleaded guilty to hurling the caustic liquid in Dyer's face on orders from Williams. He will receive the same 17-year term at a Feb. 20 sentencing.
“I have been asked on many occasions whether I forgive,” she said. “I must tell you that I do.”