A man attacked Pastor Timothy Johnson of Chicago’s Salem Baptist Church and his wife, Renee, a special education teacher, on May 1, 2021. The couple was doing yard work for her 95-year-old mother at her South Side Chicago home and quickly found their eyes gouged during the attack.
The Chicago Sun–Times reports the attack happened while Mr. Johnson was cleaning up the alley behind his mother-in-law’s house, and a man approached him asking if he’d buy something. After politely declining the attacker, 28-year-old Elijah Rule Hill Prince hit Johnson in the head with the shovel the victim was using to clean up the alley. Prince then, like out of a horror movie, gouged out Mr. Johnson’s eyes with his fingers and took a bite out of his ear and the top of his head.
And then, the attacker turned to the pastor’s wife, gouging her eyes
After hearing the disturbing encounter, Johnson’s wife, Renee, rushed to his side in an attempt to stop the assailant. Prince then pulled her hair, gouged her eyes, and bit off parts of her ears as well. When Mrs. Johnson fell to the ground, Prince kicked her in the head multiple times.
Mr. Johnson was somehow able to call 911 after he pulled out a wooden object that the attacker had shoved in his eye. Prince ran off after someone who saw what was happening yelled at him.