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He rapped about it.
A former college football player and an aspiring rapper from Brooklyn who recorded a song that boasted about attacking a person with acid has been charged in the 2021 acid attack in Elmont that severely burned and disfigured a Hofstra student’s face.
“I’m discreet in the night, like a hitman assassin,” raps Terrell Campbell, aka YungBasedPrince, in his rap song “Obsidian,” produced in 2023. “Try to run up and have your face burn in acid. I’m like the crocodile hunting out in Lake Placid.”
Campbell, 29, is charged with two counts of first-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and unlawful possessing noxious materials in the March 17, 2021, attack on Nafiah Ikram right in front of her Arlington Avenue home.
Facing 25 years behind bars if convicted, Campbell was arraigned Tuesday morning at Nassau County District Court in Mineola and remanded without bail.
The song title refers to obsidian, a dark, glasslike volcanic rock formed by the rapid solidification of lava.
“Obsidian means hot lava that comes from a volcano and when it cools into a rock, it’s called obsidian rock,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a press briefing Tuesday, where Campbell’s arrest was announced. “It’s sickening, it’s cruel and it’s brazen.”
The “Obsidian” music video remained posted on YouTube as of Tuesday afternoon. It is posted below this report.
Nearly five years of investigating
The arrest comes after an exhaustive nearly five-year investigation by Nassau Police and the district attorney’s office that involved hundreds of subpoenas and countless hours of detective work, Donnelly and Nassau Police Chief Patrick Ryder said.
“After nearly five years, through the incredible efforts of our Nassau County Police Department, and I cannot emphasize enough how hard the Nassau County Police Department worked with us on this case and my prosecutors, we have now indicted the individual responsible for attacking Nafiah Ikram with acid outside her home in Elmont in 2021,” Donnelly announced.
The attack occurred about 8:30 p.m., when Nafiah Ikram, then 21 and studying at Hofstra University, was returning to her home after working at a CVS in Baldwin.
Before she could get inside the house, she was attacked from behind. Sulfuric acid was thrown at her, covering her face, chest and arm — going into her eyes and mouth. The assailant ran and disappeared into the night.
“An extensive coordinated investigation between the Nassau County Police department, my office, and other law enforcement partners began,” Donnelly said. “For nearly five years, law enforcement ran down every lead, investigated every tip and every piece of evidence to find Nafiah’s attacker.”
The break in the case
Video evidence collected from the scene shortly after the attack captured the assailant in a red Nissan Altima a block away from Ikram’s home, fleeing from the scene. But despite exhaustive efforts, investigators were unable at the time to match that vehicle to an owner.
A photo of Campbell standing in front of a red Nissan Altima that was posted in December 2020 remains on his Facebook account.
Late last year, new evidence came to light that jumpstarted the investigation and led to Campbell’s arrest, authorities said.
“Once we learned Campbell’s identity, with the help of the New York City Police Department, we located his address and found a red Nissan Altima parked outside,” Donnelly said. “We later learned that he had regular use of a red 2015 Nissan Altima back in 2021 that was registered to a family member.”
The investigation revealed damning digital evidence. In the minutes following the 2021 attack, investigators found searches on Campbell’s internet history asking, “how do I remove sulfuric acid from my car’s fabric.”
Then it was discovered that two years after the attack Campbell produced and uploaded a music video boasting about the assault.
“Two years after he ambushed Nafiah and left her screaming in pain on her front lawn, he actually produced and uploaded a music video to YouTube, boasting about throwing acid in a woman’s face,” Donnelly said. “A harrowing attack boiled down to some lyrics to get him attention.
“Campbell thought he got away with it. He bragged on the Internet for everyone to see,” she continued. “He thought after several years without an arrest, he was home free. But he could not have been more wrong.”
Campbell’s background
Campbell was a star defensive end and captain of the football team Nazareth Regional High School in Brooklyn for two seasons. He played college football at Anna Maria College in Paxton, Massachusetts, after earning CHSFL All-League honors in 2013. His Facebook page says he is from East New York.
At Anna Maria, he wore No. 99 — his bio there said he was majoring in financial services and that his favorite football team was the Patriots. He appears to have graduated in 2018, according to his Instagram account.
Campbell noted in 2018 on Instagram that he was battling leukemia and thanked his friends for their support.
Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder on Tuesday praised the detectives who never gave up on the case, even as years passed without an arrest.
“The Nassau County Police Department never gives up on their victims. Never,” Ryder said. “This animal will serve his time in jail, where he deserves to be.”
Ryder acknowledged criticism that the department faced over the years as the case remained unsolved.
“We took a lot of heat over the last five years. ‘Oh, you’re not doing enough. The police department’s not doing enough.’ Know this: The Nassau County Police Department never gives up on their victims,” he said.
He credited the work of detectives in the Fifth Squad and thanked Donnelly and County Executive Bruce Blakeman for their support throughout the investigation.
“Without the cooperation of our district attorney, we would not be here today,” Ryder said. “[And] We wouldn’t have got here without the support of our county executive.”
‘Unimaginable pain’
The impact of the attack on Ikram has been devastating and permanent.
“These past five years have not been easy for Nafiah,” Donnelly said. “She survived the attack, but that was just the beginning of a painful journey for a beautiful young woman.”
After the attack, Ikram permanently lost most of her eyesight in her right eye. She has undergone countless surgeries and reconstructive grafts.
A GoFundMe effort for Ikram continues to garner a steady stream of donations. It has received just short of $600,000 in contributions.
The scarring in Ikram’s throat is so severe that she must suffer through occasional operations to remove scar tissue — critical procedures that allow her to breathe and eat normally.
“For the past five years, she endured this unimaginable pain,” Donnelly said. “She has also lived with two heartbreaking questions. Who and why?”
Questions remain
While authorities have now answered the “who,” the “why” remains under investigation.
“Today, I am proud that we are finally able to answer one of those questions. The who,” Donnelly said. “As for the why, our investigation continues and we cannot provide any additional details at this time.”
Prosecutors declined to comment on whether Campbell was paid to carry out the attack, though they noted that the investigation is ongoing, and additional arrests remain possible.
When asked why Campbell was not charged with attempted murder, Donnelly explained that the facts of the case “actually do not fit into the murder statute.”
A $50,000 reward that had been offered in the case will be paid out, Ryder said, though he declined to provide details about the recipient.
‘We will hold him accountable’
Donnelly made clear that despite the passage of time, justice would be served.
“But it is clear this heartless defendant intended to cause her irreversible harm. And later, he cared so little about the traumatic life altering injuries he caused, he used the attack to try to further his rap career,” she said.
“We will hold him accountable for the anguish he caused this young woman and her family.”
At the press briefing, Ikram’s mother briefly addressed reporters, expressing gratitude to all who supported the family through nearly five years of uncertainty and pain.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank every single person, every single prayer that have been made for us to meet this day today,” she said through tears. “And we’re very grateful and thankful for everyone.”
Commissioner Ryder emphasized that the investigation is not finished.
“This investigation is not done,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that the family gets exactly what they deserve in the closure. And the animal will go to jail for a long time … along with anybody else that is involved with this case.”
Top: mugshot of Terrell Campbell, provided by Nassau Police; inset photos of Nafiah Ikram via Facebook and GoFundMe; and main photo of Campbell in front of car, via Facebook.
