Man who threw acid into woman’s face in Elmont arrested nearly five years later

Terrell Campbell, 29, of 741 Drew St., was charged with two counts of assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and unlawful possession of noxious matter. He pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on Feb. 18. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Nafiah Ikram, a Sewanhaka High School alum, was the victim of an acid attack outside her home in March 2021.

The acid caused Ikram to scream, which resulted in the liquid spreading to her mouth, according to a GoFundMe page that had been set up at the time to help pay for the various medical procedures she needed. Her tongue and throat were burned as a result of the attack, which also left her with burns and scars on her face, according to the page.

Ikram ran into the house, where her parents attempted to help her, but the acid burned her parents’ arms and hands as well, the page said. The acid caused “severe burning” on Ikram’s eyes, chest and arms, according to the post. She was also wearing contact lenses, which were melted to her eyes as a result of the acid.

The liquid was later determined to be 70% sulfuric acid, according to the office of Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.

The GoFundMe page raised just shy of $600,000 following the attack.

After the incident, Ikram and her family held multiple press conferences with Nassau County officials, calling for justice and imploring the community to provide police with any information on the attacker.

Ikram said she had lost more than 10 pounds in 10 days after her eighth surgery and had said she would not feel safe until the attacker was caught.

“I constantly have this fear of this happening to me again or reliving it,” Ikram previously said in a news conference outside her house.

In late 2025, Nassau County officials received information from community members with knowledge of the attack and from technology companies, which led investigators to Campbell, Donnelly said after the indictment.

Campbell allegedly regularly drove a 2015 red Nissan Altima that was registered under a family member’s name based on multiple moving violations, tickets, and accidents in which he provided his driver’s license, the DA said. Other evidence obtained from license plate reader images from the days before and after the attack linked the red Nissan Altima used in the attack to the one driven by Campbell, according to Donnelly.

Campbell, who is also an aspiring rapper who goes by the name “YungBasedPrince,” published a YouTube music video in 2023 called “Obsidian,” in which he raps the lyrics, “on the street in the night like a hitman assassin, try to run up and have your face burn in acid.”

Google searches from a Google account obtained through a warrant also revealed searches, in the minutes and days after the attack, for phrases including “sulfuric acid remover,” “sulfuric acid on car seat,” “can you recover from sulfuric acid burn,” and “acid attack Franklin Square Long Island,” Donnelly said.

Officials praised the work done in bringing in Campbell on Tuesday.

“My constituent Nafiah Ikram never gave up – and finally, after nearly 5 years, she is finally closer to some closure with the arrest and indictment of the person who assaulted her with sulfuric acid,” Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages (D–Valley Stream) said after the arrest was announced. “The Nassau County Police Department never gave up, and I would like to thank them for their professionalism and for standing up for victims of crime.”

“The past five years have not been easy on this young woman. She survived the attack, but that was just the beginning of a long, painful journey of recovery filled with unanswered questions. Today, we were finally able to provide her with some answers,” Donnelly said.

“Our detectives and the district attorney’s office never stopped working to bring the individual responsible for this heinous act to justice,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.