An Illinois man gouged out his uncle’s eyes on New Year’s Eve and then pushing him down the stairs in a fight over a remote control, authorities have alleged.
The victim, 62-year-old Melvin Clifford, managed to call 911. A sheriff’s deputy found him at the bottom of the basement stairs with his hands stretched in front of him and blood streaming from his face, saying ”Please help. I cannot see’ according to a the sheriff’s report.
Mr Clifford’s eyeballs were swollen, dislocated and protruding a quarter-inch from his sockets.
The victim told police that his nephew, Exulam Holman, 32, with whom he lives, broke the remote and pushed him to the kitchen floor.
He said Holman then straddled him and ‘inserted his thumbs into his eyes … and attempted to pry the eyeballs out of the sockets,’ before pushing him down the stairs. The report noted that Holman weighs 280 pounds, about 140 pounds more than his uncle, and is 5 inches taller.
A deputy found Holman in a locked bedroom and arrested him on a charge of aggravated domestic battery. A judge ordered him held Tuesday on $1 million bond.
Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, said Holman was to be charged formally Wednesday with aggravated domestic battery and battery of a person over age 60, which both carry sentences of 3 to 7 years in prison.
