Woman doused with acid details events leading to attack

Sep 29, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – Jelicia Leitch, the 25-year-old mother of one who was doused with acid earlier this month, said her soon to be three-year-old child has not seen her since the attack, as she is afraid the child may become afraid.

Leitch, a cashier attached to the Balwant Singh Hospital, was bathed with the corrosive substance on September 3, while she accompanied her colleague to purchase lunch. She recently shared some details with ‘Big Smith News Watch’ about her life before the incident.

Leitch said she met the alleged attacker, Keron Daniels, while he was a bus driver back in March. She said he would always “flirt” with her, whenever she was a passenger. She admitted that she smiled back a bit, but did not think it was serious.

The conductor one day told her, “he said that the driver like you, and I said, not me. I don’t like west side man. The conductor gave him my number. He messaged me back around March. And then we started talking. We started messaging. And so, he said he liked me how he was single.”

Leitch said Daniels told her that he only communicated with the mother of his children because of the kids, and that he would sleep in the bus, as he felt uncomfortable in the home. Subsequently, she said he began sleeping over at her place and she would cook for him.

“…then he just started off the distance, out of nowhere. And I tell my friend, and she reached out to him, and he said that ‘chirren mother and chirren father don’t done.’ That was his exact words. And I feel used,” she said tearfully.

Leitch said she was working as a chef at Amici restaurant and had asked a friend to reach out to the mother of his children to inform her about the relationship.

“She said she always suspect something, because he would always be in the bathroom, hiding and talking on these things, you know. And even said, oh, they were supposed to leave the country…because ticket done buy and so, you know, it ended right there. We ain’t had no cuss out, no police wasn’t involved. He move on. I move on,” she explained.

The woman said she has been speaking to her child via phone each day. “I would call her like every morning before she goes to school on video call. But I wouldn’t like turn on the phone for her to see my face, because I don’t want her to get scared. I don’t know if she’d see me,” she said.

On the day of the attack, Leitch’s colleague had asked her to accompany her to the supermarket to purchase lunch. It was then that Daniels allegedly doused them with the corrosive liquid.

“I feel like somebody just walked like I decided, and threw this thing on me, and my whole skin started to burn. I didn’t know what it was, so I went into the bar. It had two Indian women. They owned the bar. And I said, auntie, this is some water. This is some water. My skin burning. And then they watch me. They close the door, and they was like, go, go, go, go, without even helping me. So, I ran down the road to the Chinese supermarket and I grabbed like, two bottles water from the fridge. And I started like, throwing it all over my face. And it had people in the supermarket, they grabbed water too,’ Leitch recalled

Last Friday, Leitch confirmed she underwent three surgeries and was deemed stable enough to be discharged. “I’m getting discharged today. So far, my face and skin are healing well. The surgeries were a success and doctors said I am stable enough to go home,” she told Kaieteur News.

Leitch revealed that she regained vision in her left eye after doctors initially feared her cornea was permanently damaged. “When I first came to the hospital, the eye doctor told me the cornea was damaged and would need a transplant. But on Wednesday, when the doctor came back to see me, he said the cornea is no longer damaged, it had improved,” she said.

However, she stated that there was a low possibility that she would be able to see from both eyes again.

Despite her progress, Leitch expressed fear about returning home while the alleged attacker remains out on bail. “I want to go home but I’m frightened. I don’t really have anyone,” she said.

Daniels was charged with Throwing Corrosive Fluid with Intent and appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty on September 18, where he was granted $500,000 bail. The decision drew sharp criticism from the Guyana Police Force, which described it as “gravely disappointing” given the rise in violent attacks against women.

In response, acting chief magistrate, Faith McGusty condemned what she called “inaccurate and misleading” police statements, noting that prosecutors had failed to present critical CCTV evidence despite claiming to possess it. While prosecutors initially asserted that video footage linked Daniels to the crime, his attorneys argued that the masked attacker could not be clearly identified.

As a result of the prosecution’s failure to produce the footage, bail was granted at $250,000 for each of the two charges Daniels faces. He is scheduled to return to court on October 22, 2025.

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• acid, Balwant Singh Hospital, burn, corrosive substance, Jelicia Leitch, Keron Daniels, survivor

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