Family remembers life and legacy of woman who survived acid attack

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A Lexington family is remembering their loved one, a woman who made national headlines more than 30 years ago when she was the victim of an acid attack.

Demetrius Moore, a native of Lexington, would have celebrated her 60th birthday this week.

“She would have said, ‘Oh, is this birthday party for me? Go ahead, sister!'” said Moore’s sister, Veroqua Moore.

Moore said her humble, kind and generous sister didn’t know what to make of the fuss made in her honor on Friday.

“My sister loved children. She really would have loved it if children released the balloons for her. She always felt that the children were afraid of her.”

When she was 27, Moore was attacked in the middle of a service at East Second Street Christian Church. Another woman doused her with drain cleaner because she had allegedly “sung out of tune” at a previous choir practice. She suffered severe burns and scars on 95 percent of her body.

“She liked the beauty of life. Even though she was burned with acid, she never wanted people to see the burned part of her. She wanted them to see her inside out. The most beautiful part of her.”

The part of Demetrius that never stopped singing. The part that helped her younger siblings know right from wrong, and the part of her that never believed the world was an ugly place, even after everything she’d been through.

“She always wanted people to know that she loved them, that she knew she loved us. She treated everyone fairly. She never wanted anyone to have a bad day.”

In 1993, Naomi Parker pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

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