WOMAN'S EYES GOUGED OUT SPURNED MALE CO-WORKER SUSPECTED IN BRUTAL ATTACK.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A 25-year-old developmentally disabled man is in custody on suspicion of beating and gouging out the eyes of a developmentally disabled co-worker with whom he was reportedly infatuated.

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

She remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical condition. There is no way to try to restore her vision, officials said.

``This is really devastating,'' said Deputy Dave Miklos of the Palmdale sheriff's station. ``It's a really brutal crime, and the whole thing was just very unfortunate.''

Thomas and suspect Torelle Hill, 25, of Palmdale had worked together at the Palmdale office of Social Vocational Services, a training center for developmentally disabled people, deputies said. Both were said to have the mental capacity of average children 10 to 12 years old, according to deputies.

Deputies said Hill threatened to kill himself over Thomas just over a month ago, and 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 a citizen who told him a woman, bleeding profusely, was lying in the trash enclosure, and the man who had attacked her was walking north on 25th Street East.

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

Paramedics found the woman conscious but covered in her own blood. She was flown by helicopter to Providence Holy Cross Hospital 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.

Hill was being held at the Lancaster sheriff's station jail on suspicion of attempted murder and aggravated mayhem in lieu of $500,000 bail.

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