Lawrence Man Pleads Not Guilty to Crossbow Attack on Sister

Samy Sedhom, 21, of Lawrence, pleaded not guilty April 2 to attempted murder charges in Nassau County Court, accused of lying in wait outside his family home and shooting his sister with a crossbow because, prosecutors say, she kept the thermostat too low.

The attack took place just after 9:20 p.m. on February 13 on West Avenue in Lawrence. Sedhom's sister, a 28-year-old nurse, had just returned from the gym and was entering the keypad code to close her detached garage when, according to prosecutors, her brother fired a G5 hunting arrow from a high-performance Barnett Whitetail Hunter Crossbow. He had parked across the street and waited. The arrow struck her in the head, tearing a six-inch laceration across her right ear, right cheek, and face. Nassau County Police transported her by ambulance to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where surgeons operated to stop the bleeding and close the wound. Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said the arrow came "within inches" of killing her.

Prosecutors allege the planning started around Christmas 2025, six to eight weeks before the attack. Sedhom allegedly told investigators the cold temperature in the home was "not a sustainable way of life for me" and that he "planned on getting rid of her." In the weeks that followed, he allegedly ordered the Barnett crossbow online, purchased a three-pack of G5 hunting arrows, bought a GPS tracking device, assembled the weapon himself, and covertly installed the tracker inside his sister's car to monitor her location.

After firing, Sedhom allegedly drove away and discarded the crossbow at the intersection of West Avenue and Bayview Avenue, a short distance from the family home. Police recovered the weapon. A search of his bedroom that night produced a black Katana samurai sword, a MacBook laptop, and an empty crossbow box matching the weapon recovered at the scene. Prosecutors allege he admitted to detectives he shot his sister and intended to kill her.

"Sedhom allegedly tracked his sister and lain in wait before brutally attacking her with a crossbow in a clear attempt to take her life," Donnelly said. "An attack that was born out of revenge for an ongoing dispute about the temperature in their home and came within inches of being fatal."

Detectives from Nassau County Police Department's 4th Precinct Squad arrested Sedhom without incident on February 14. He was arraigned February 15 at Nassau County First District Court in Hempstead, and again before Judge Robert Schwartz on April 2 after a grand jury returned an indictment on four counts: Attempted Murder in the Second Degree and Assault in the First Degree, both Class B violent felonies; Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D felony; and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree, a misdemeanor. He was ordered held without bail. Conviction on the top charge carries a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Defense attorney Stephen Mullkoff described the incident as a "prank" gone wrong, saying Sedhom "intended to scare his sister and never intended to hurt her in any way," and noted his client "absolutely suffers from an undiagnosed mental health condition." Donnelly rejected that framing directly: "We're talking about an inch would have killed somebody. [That] doesn't deserve the word prank, it deserves the word attempted murder."

The court has ordered a psychological evaluation to assess whether Sedhom is competent to stand trial. The DA's office contends that his months of deliberate preparation, from ordering and assembling the crossbow to purchasing a GPS tracker and secretly installing it in his sister's car, reflects a calculated mind. The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Ryan Nelson under Bureau Chief Ali Ajamu.

The court issued a full stay-away order protecting the victim. Survivors of family-based violence in Nassau County can independently petition Nassau County Family Court for an order of protection, or contact the Nassau County DA's Victim/Witness Assistance Program for safety planning, emergency referrals, and court accompaniment. Advocates caution that attacks of this nature rarely materialize without prior warning signs: expressions of homicidal intent toward a family member, sudden weapon purchases, or the secret installation of tracking devices on another person's vehicle all warrant an immediate call to Nassau County Police. Early intervention is, in most cases, the only intervention that matters.

Sedhom returns to court April 30.