Man who hit woman in head 13 times with hammer in Queens sentenced to life in prison
KEW GARDENS, Queens (WABC) -- The man convicted in the vicious hammer attack on a woman at a Queens subway station was sentenced to the maximum 25 years to life behind bars on Thursday.
William Blount, 61, was convicted of striking Nina Rothschild in the head with a hammer 13 times. She survived the brutal attack.
Prosecutors brought up a handful of his prior convictions spanning decades of violent felony offenses of kidnapping, robbery, and attempted robbery.
The assault, which was caught on surveillance video, happened in February 2022 at the Queens Plaza subway station.
Rothschild, who was 57 at the time, was on her way home from work when Blount, who was walking with a cane, approached her from behind, kicked her down the stairs and then hit her in the head with a hammer 13 times.
He took her bag as well and ran away.
With help from security footage, Blount was arrested shortly after the attack, and was eventually convicted of robbery and assault this past February.
Rothschild suffered multiple skull fractures and had to get intensive surgery for her injuries. She was a research scientist with the New York City Health Department at the time of the attack.
Rothschild, now 61, addressed her attacker inside the courtroom for the first time on Thursday.
"My rhetorical question is, to Mr. Blount, I do not expect an answer, but I have often imagined asking this question, and will take advantage of the opportunity. My question, what were you thinking on the night of February 24, 2022? If confronted with someone with a hammer, most people would give up their bags. Why on earth did you come up behind me, fracture my skull, multiple times with a hammer, then grab my bag?" she asked.
Blount sat emotionless during her impact statement.
"I'm not a lawyer but I am quite certain that you would've faced a lesser punishment if you had simply robbed me than you now do for viscously assaulting me," Rothschild said.
Like the prosecutors, she had asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence, which he did.
The judge told Rothschild that it was a miracle she survived. Now fully recovered, Rothschild is moving forward.
"I am in the early planning stages of a September vacation and other than that, I'm ready for the adventures that life may bring," she said.
After the hearing, Rothschild said it was freeing to face Blount for the first time.
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