It took nearly five years for authorities to arrest the man they say threw acid on a young Long Island woman’s face in an ambush attack, leaving her disfigured and traumatized.
A month later, another arrest has been made: the victim’s ex-boyfriend.
Shaquille Coke was arrested Tuesday in the horrific attack on Nafiah Ikram. Prosecutors said his possessive jealous rage led him to orchestrate the March 2021 assault.
Ikram’s nightmare unfolded outside of her Elmont home five years ago, when an assailant threw acid in her face as just steps from her front door, prompting years of facial reconstructive surgeries.
Surveillance video captured the night when the then-21-year-old had finished a shift at CVS and was returning home when the suspect ran up and poured acid on her face.
That assailant was later identified as Terrel Campbell, a rapper and high school friend of Coke’s from Brooklyn who was arrested in February. Cellphone records indicate Coke drove the getaway car the night Campbell carried out the attack, according to prosecutors.
Coke and Ikram met while they were students at Hofstra University, and the pair dated for a few months in late 2020 and into 2021.
Coke apparently became angry with Ikram after setting up a Snapchat account under a different name and communicating with her. While talking to the fake account, Ikram said her relationship with Coke “wasn’t serious.”
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Coke thought Ikram had been “unfaithful” during their relationship and never accepted their breakup. He “wanted Karma to teach [Ikram] a lesson,” according to Donnelly.
“The attack was meant to terrorize her. It was meant to mutilate and humiliate her,” said Donnelly. “Coke knew where Nafiah lived, where she worked…Coke is the only link between Nafiah and her attacker.”
The lawyer for Coke believes allegations made by Campbell may have led to Coke’s arrest. On Tuesday, he told reporters he was innocent.
“He’s shell shocked. He’s graduating to become a nurse next month,” Coke’s lawyer said.
Nassau police had questioned Coke several times after the attack, but he was never charged until now.
“He never made any admissions in the initial interviews,” the DA said. “There’s no connection until we put Campbell and Coke together.”
Ikram and her mother watched inside the courtroom. Later outside of court, Ikram called Coke’s arrest a “big shock.”
“I’m trying to just decompress and figure out how I’m feeling emotionally, so that’s all I can say right now,” she said.
Coke pleaded not guilty to assault and other charges. He was ordered held without bail. If convicted, Coke faces up to 25 years behind bars.
It’s been one year since a Long Island college student was attacked with acid in front of her home. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.