Police have charged Khemchan Sulaiman, 45, an MTA bus maintainer from Jamaica, Queens, with second-degree attempted murder for allegedly poisoning his two-year-old daughter before trying to take his own life. But before Sulaiman can be arraigned he has to recover from his own apparent attempted suicide. He and his daughter have been in critical (now stable) condition since they were discovered barely breathing in Sulaiman's car on Monday morning.
Police are not saying if a suicide note was found with Sulaiman, but they do believe he was sober when he drove his daughter behind a store in suburban Lawrence. Investigators currently speculate that the murder-suicide attempt was sparked by an ongoing dispute between the man and his ex. Though Sulaiman had unlimited visitation rights it seems that the couple's recent split (the mother and toddler live in Brooklyn) had not been amicable.
According to authorities, investigators found ammonium chloride in and on the little girl's bottle. "It looks like he may have given the child this product to ingest and may have ingested it on his own," Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said yesterday. "He may have ingested the rest on his own, so we have to look at from a standpoint it may be an attempt to take his child's life and commit suicide." In addition there were also household pesticides found on both father and child and throughout the vehicle.
Once it is "practical" Sulaiman will be arraigned at St. John’s Hospital in Far Rockaway. A neighbor tells Newsday (paywall), "Oh, my God. I just can't believe this. But why would he do this? Not the man I know and talked to. I just can't believe it."
