New York City authorities said they arrested and charged a man who allegedly set his ex-girlfriend ablaze in front of the former couple’s 11-year-old daughter.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office charged Kenneth Rickenbacker, 44, with attempted murder, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and weapons violations in the attack that took place over the weekend.
Prosecutors said the suspect first threatened his ex-girlfriend and their daughter with a knife at about 5 p.m. Saturday in a public housing complex in Crown Heights.
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Moments later, the suspect doused his ex-girlfriend in rubbing alcohol and set her on fire.
Prosecutors said the victim, 38, is in a medically induced coma after being left with severe burns to her face, shoulders, hands and back. A law enforcement source told New York’s Daily News the victim is pregnant as well.
Rickenbacker has a prior domestic violence conviction after shooting at his former partner and their then-2-week-old daughter in 2015, according to court records obtained by WNYW.
He served nine years behind bars and was paroled in 2024.
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