ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGED IN EYE-GOUGING OF WOMAN SUSPECT WAS REPORTEDLY INFATUATED WITH VICTIM, NOW IN COMA ON LIFE SUPPORT.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A developmentally disabled man accused of beating and gouging out the eyes of a developmentally disabled co-worker with whom he was reportedly infatuated was charged Wednesday with attempted murder.

The mental status and state of mind of 25-year-old Torelle Hill, who was described by deputies as having the mental capacity of an average child of 10 to 12 years of age, could play a role in the case, prosecutors said.

``In an attempted murder charge, you have to prove there was a specific intent to kill, and while the evidence fully supports such a charge, the defense I suppose may attempt to make an issue of that element. Did he, with his limited mental capacity, form a specific intent to kill?'' Deputy District Attorney John Portillo said. ``Based on the viciousness of the attack, that seems pretty clear. You don't have to have a high IQ to form a specific intent to kill somebody.''

Another area in which mental capacity comes into play is whether the defendant is competent to stand trial, Portillo said. ``To be competent to stand trial, you have to understand the nature of the proceedings and be able to assist your attorney in representing you,'' Portillo said.

Hill was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on charges of attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and battery with serious bodily injury.

Victim Shanika Thomas, 24, of Palmdale screamed as she was beaten and blinded Monday evening inside a trash enclosure next to a fast-food restaurant, deputies said.

Authorities on Wednesday said Thomas remained hospitalized on life support in a coma.

Thomas and Hill were clients at the Palmdale office of Social Vocational Services, a training center for developmentally disabled people, deputies said.

Deputies said Hill threatened to kill himself over Thomas just over a month ago, and that they took him to Antelope Valley Hospital's psychiatric ward for an evaluation. He apparently had been infatuated with her for some time, and she did not respond.

The beating occurred about 5:15 p.m. Monday in a trash enclosure outside a Del Taco restaurant in the 2500 block of East Avenue S. A sheriff's deputy was flagged down by an individual who told him a woman, bleeding profusely, was lying in the trash enclosure, and that the man who had attacked her was walking north on 25th Street East.

The deputy radioed for paramedics and additional deputies and arrested the man, later identified as Hill.

Paramedics found the woman conscious but covered in her own blood. She was flown by helicopter to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, deputies said.

Investigators said Hill told them he encountered Thomas at a supermarket across the street from Del Taco. He said they talked for a short time. He claimed that she took money from him so he followed her across the street.

Deputies said they don't know why she went with him into the trash enclosure.