Grandmother declared blind after acid attack by stranger outside of her own home

Police are still investigating and no arrests have been made in the case so far.

By Jon Haworth
October 15, 2020, 6:14 AM
• 7 min read

A 61-year-old grandmother and phlebotomist is now blind after she was randomly attacked by a stranger who splashed acid in her face as she was leaving her own home.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:15 a.m. on Oct. 6 as 61-year-old Helen Jones was walking to her car which was parked just steps in front of her Germantown neighborhood home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to go draw blood for patients at a nursing home when she was attacked, according to ABC News’ Philadelphia station WPVI.

"There was a man there and he was like 'Hey, are you good?' As if he was inquiring about her safety making sure she was okay," said Aneesha Summerville, Jones’ daughter, in an interview with WPVI. "And when she looked up to say 'yes,' he threw the stuff in her face and ran off … It's devastating."

"I just heard a lot of screaming and she was banging on her door trying to get in," neighbor Dorothy Hannibal told WPVI. She has lived next to Jones for more than 20 years.

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