Aspiring Model Slashed In Kentucky Mall

Lexington, KY – An aspiring model, 18-year-old Nicole Kyaw, was attacked by two women on the south end of town in Fayette Mall in Lexington, Kentucky. Her face was slashed with a razor.

It happened last Tuesday afternoon. Nicole was on her way to work at Urban Nation, a clothing store within the mall. A witness explained later that the women had apparently been waiting for Nicole for a couple of hours outside of the store. They tackled Nicole to the ground. One held her down while the other slashed her face. Authorities believe this was an act provoked by jealousy. The victim does not believe this was a chance encounter. She recognized at least one of the women from Facebook, an ex of a former boyfriend.

According to Nicole:

“I’d never seen her in person, just on Facebook. Then she came walking up beside me, and I thought, is that her? She was staring at me and I said, ‘are you serious?’ I was tackled to the ground. Her friend held me down and she attacked me, she cut an X into my face. She looked at me dead in the eye and smiled before she did this.”

Despite the brutality of the attack, no one in the mall attempted to intervene. Nicole managed to get to her workplace and have the manager call 911. Nicole identified one of her assailants as Kristin Nicole Caldwell, who Nicole said shared a child with her former boyfriend, reports New York Daily News.

Nicole should recover from her wounds with little scarring but expresses concern that, had the attacker simply cut her closer to her neck, it likely could have killed her. The women involved will be charged with assault in the second degree once they are apprehended. Second degree assault is a class C felony in the state of Kentucky, punishable with no less than five years and more than 10 years in jail, if convicted.

Lexington Police have yet to have made an arrest in the case.

The attack is similar to that of model Marla Hanson, who, in June 1986, rejected the sexual advances of her landlord, Steve Roth. Roth hired two friends, Steven Bowman and Darren Norman, who attacked Hanson, slicing her face. The razor assault left her permanently scarred.