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News footage of Samy Sedhom heading into court on April 2 (WNBC).
A New York man stands accused of nearly killing his sister with a crossbow, authorities report.
Samy Sedhom, 21, faced a judge on Thursday, entering a plea of not guilty to charges including attempted murder, assault, and illegal weapon possession. These charges stem from a February 13 incident where he allegedly attacked his 28-year-old sister at their Lawrence, New York home. Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly stated that Sedhom ambushed his sister after she returned from the gym, firing a crossbow at her head. The attack left her with a severe 6-inch wound requiring emergency medical intervention.
Donnelly noted that the alleged assault was the result of an ongoing dispute over “the temperature in their home.” She remarked that Sedhom came perilously close to fatally injuring his sister.
Following his arraignment on Thursday, Sedhom, having been indicted by a grand jury, maintained his innocence on all charges. His lawyer, Stephen Mullkoff, told WNBC that Sedhom’s actions were intended only to frighten his sister, not harm her. Earlier in February, Mullkoff characterized the incident as a “prank.”
Donnelly expressed her skepticism to the station, describing Mullkoff’s explanation as “so unbelievable.”
In a press release from the DA’s office, Donnelly called Sedhom’s alleged attack “violent and calculated.” She said Sedhom “allegedly tracked his sister and lain in wait before brutally attacking her with a crossbow in a clear attempt to take her life. 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.”
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.