A Brooklyn man now faces attempted murder charges after prosecutors say he threw rubbing alcohol on his pregnant ex-girlfriend and set her on fire while their 11-year-old daughter watched.
Quick Take
- Vanessa Edmonds, 38, suffered severe burns to her face, hands, shoulders and back and was placed in a medically induced coma.
- Prosecutors say the couple’s 11-year-old daughter saw her father threaten them with a knife before the fire.
- Elijah Rickenbacker, 44, is charged with attempted murder, assault, weapons offenses and child endangerment.
- The attack happened inside a Crown Heights public housing apartment on October 24, 2026.
- Rickenbacker is being held without bail and appeared in court with bandages on his head.
What Prosecutors Say Happened Inside The Apartment
Prosecutors say Rickenbacker argued with Edmonds around 5:09 p.m. inside their apartment at 108 Kingsborough Walk. He allegedly threatened her and their daughter with a knife, then threw rubbing alcohol on Edmonds and set her on fire before fleeing the scene. The attack left her with burns severe enough to require immediate hospitalization at Weill Cornell Hospital’s burn unit.
Edmonds, 38, was placed in a medically induced coma as doctors treated burns covering her face, hands, shoulders and back. Reports describing court documents say she was also pregnant at the time of the attack. Her condition since the incident has not been publicly updated beyond her initial hospitalization.
A Child’s Account Shapes The Case
The couple’s 11-year-old daughter was in the apartment when the knife threats and fire allegedly occurred. Court documents cited by reporters say she told police her father threatened both her and her mother before the attack. Her account places her at the center of a case prosecutors are building around a sequence of escalating violence.
Child witnesses in domestic violence cases often carry significant weight in court, but prosecuting such cases is rarely simple. Legal guidance for prosecutors notes that cases involving children as witnesses are sometimes delayed or complicated by the reluctance to put a child through testimony against a parent, even when the evidence otherwise supports moving forward.
Rickenbacker’s Appearance And Arraignment
Rickenbacker was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court and charged with attempted murder, assault, weapons-related offenses and endangering the welfare of a child. Some reports also list arson and criminal mischief among the charges. He appeared in court with extensive bandages on his head, which his attorney attributed to burns he sustained during the incident.
Sources say Rickenbacker attempted to report the fire to police in Queens before he was arrested. Prosecutors have also described a different version of events that he allegedly gave investigators, claiming Edmonds had rubbing alcohol on her hand and swung at him, and that she caught fire when he pushed her away while he was smoking a cigarette.
A Documented Pattern Of Fire As A Weapon
Fire-related attacks between intimate partners are uncommon but well documented. A 2025 burn-center study found suspected violent burns made up 2.5 percent of women admitted over a 13-year span, with current or former partners identified as the most common alleged attackers. Those cases also showed higher rates of head injuries and death compared to accidental burns.
That research does not determine what happened inside the Crown Heights apartment, but it places the allegations within a recognized and studied pattern of domestic violence. Investigators and prosecutors building intent arguments in fire cases typically look at prior threats, access to weapons, and conduct immediately before and after the incident, factors that often shape how these cases move through court.
What Happens Next In Court
Rickenbacker remains held without bail as the case proceeds through Brooklyn Criminal Court. The charges against him carry the weight of New York’s most serious violent-crime statutes, reflecting prosecutors’ belief that the evidence supports an intentional, premeditated act rather than an accident. His defense has already begun offering a competing explanation for how the fire started.
A 44-year-old man has been placed under arrest after police say he set a 38-year-old pregnant woman on fire inside a Crown Heights NYCHA apartment while her young daughter watched.
According to police, Kenneth Rickenbacher has been charged with attempted murder, assault, arson,… pic.twitter.com/dbHNNY4CmC
— Crime In NYC (@Crime_In_NYC) October 26, 2026
An arrest and formal charges represent allegations, not a conviction, and the case will ultimately be tested in court. For now, the known facts remain stark: a pregnant woman badly burned, a child who says she watched it happen, and a man now facing some of the most serious charges in New York’s criminal code.
Sources:
washingtontimes.com, amny.com, brooklyn.news12.com, bronx.news12.com, nydailynews.com
