Slashing Of 16-Year-Old Girl In Queens Case Of Mistaken Identity

WHITESTONE, QUEENS -- Two men are facing years behind bars for slashing a 16-year-old exchange student's face while she was on her way to school in Queens.

Wilson Lai, 26, of Oakland Gardens, and Devon Berkley, 39, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on Monday to the brutal December 2015 attack on the teen girl in Whitestone, whose injury is still visible in two long scars lining the left side of her face, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The two men had planned to attack a different teen on Dec. 16, 2015, but ambushed the exchange student by mistake after confusing her for their target who lived in the same house, according to the charges. Berkley ran up to the girl and sliced her twice in the face on her walk to school before fleeing the scene.

"The victim in this case was not the target, but nonetheless she will forever be marred by the memory of what happened to her and the scars on her face," Brown said.

Lai and Berkley pleaded guilty in Queens Supreme Court to first-degree assault. Both are slated to be sentenced to prison time on Feb. 14 - Lai to 19 years and Berkley to 18 - followed by five years of parole, Brown said.

Lead photo via Shutterstock.