Prosecutors say the 21-year-old told investigators he had planned the attack for weeks before firing an arrow that grazed the victim’s face.

LAWRENCE, N.Y. — A 21-year-old Long Island man is accused of trying to kill his sister with a crossbow after waiting for her to return home from the gym, then firing a hunting arrow that struck and grazed the right side of her face, authorities said.

Samy Sedhom was charged with attempted murder and several other crimes after the Friday night attack at the family’s home on West Avenue in Lawrence, a village in Nassau County’s Five Towns area. Prosecutors say the case matters because the victim survived by inches, the alleged attack was planned in advance, and the criminal case now turns on what investigators say Sedhom admitted, what physical evidence police recovered, and what motive, if any, can be proved in court.

Police said officers were sent to the home just before 9:30 p.m. Friday after a report of an injured woman. When they arrived, they found a 28-year-old woman bleeding from a wound on the right side of her face. Investigators say she had just driven home from the gym and pulled into the attached garage. As she entered the code to close the garage door, she felt a sharp pain and realized she was bleeding. The woman later told police she had seen her brother in a parked car across the street when she got home. According to investigators, both siblings got out of their vehicles, and moments later the arrow was fired. A neighbor told local television that families can have conflicts “just like everyone else,” though the neighbor said the details were not clear.

Detectives said the arrow came from a crossbow and lodged in the back wall of the garage after grazing the victim’s face. Authorities said she was taken by Nassau County Police Ambulance to a hospital, where she was listed in stable condition. Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly later said the victim’s ear was split in half and that the case could have become a homicide if the arrow had landed only inches away. Police said a search of the home turned up a box for the crossbow in Sedhom’s bedroom, along with a Katana-style samurai sword and a MacBook, all of which were seized. Investigators have not publicly said whether the laptop is believed to contain evidence tied to planning, nor have they publicly described any forensic testing of the weapon, arrow or electronic devices. Officials also have not said whether anyone else was home when the shot was fired.

The attack has drawn attention in part because prosecutors say it grew out of a family conflict rather than a dispute between strangers. Donnelly said the siblings had argued about the temperature inside the house, describing it as a “brother-sister rivalry.” She said the sister preferred the house cooler while her brother wanted it warmer. That explanation offers the first public account of a possible motive, but it does not answer larger questions about why prosecutors say the attack had been planned since Christmas of 2025. Court records cited by local news outlets say Sedhom told investigators he had been intending to kill his sister for weeks. Authorities have not publicly described any earlier threats, prior police calls to the house, or any history of protection orders between the siblings. They also have not said whether mental health concerns have been raised in the case, leaving key background questions unanswered as the prosecution moves forward.

Sedhom was arrested without incident and arraigned Sunday in Nassau District Court. He pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence and stalking. Court records reported by local outlets identify the attempted murder count as second-degree attempted murder, the assault count as first-degree assault, the weapons count as fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and the stalking count as first-degree stalking. A judge ordered him held without bail, according to multiple reports, and issued a full stay-away order protecting his sister. He was being held at the Nassau County Jail after arraignment. Prosecutors said he is due back in court Wednesday, Feb. 18. If the attempted murder charge stands and results in a conviction, local television reported he could face up to 25 years in prison. Whether additional evidence or superseding charges could be filed has not been announced.

The details released so far paint a narrow, tense scene outside a suburban home: a woman returning from the gym, a brother waiting in a car across the street, a garage door code being entered, and then a hunting arrow cutting across a few feet of space with life-changing force. Police photographs circulated by local media showed the seized crossbow, while reports described the arrow embedded in the garage wall after the strike. Donnelly’s statement that the victim missed death by inches underscored how close the case came to becoming a homicide prosecution. Even so, much of the public picture still comes from police and prosecutors at an early stage, not from testimony tested in court. Sedhom’s defense had not publicly offered a detailed account of what happened or disputed specific factual claims beyond his not-guilty plea. The victim’s name has not been released publicly.

For now, the case stands at an early but serious point: the victim survived, the defendant remains jailed, and the next major milestone is Sedhom’s scheduled return to court on Feb. 18 as prosecutors continue building the attempted murder case.