15-year-old boy set on fire after he stops the theft of his father's bicycle

[shira]

This seems like a companion piece to last week's home-invasion/machete-murder in New Hampshire.

Text

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. ? Five teenagers were charged with aggravated battery Tuesday for dousing a 15-year-old with rubbing alcohol and setting him on fire because he stopped someone from stealing his father's bicycle, authorities said.

Michael Brewer was hospitalized with burns on more than three-quarters of his body after the attack at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex Monday.

The Broward County sheriff's office said in a news release that 15-year-olds Matthew Bent, Denver Jarvis, Steven Shelton and Jesus Mendez and 13-year-old Jeremy Jarvis were charged with aggravated battery. Mendez was also charged with attempted second-degree murder because authorities say he flicked the lighter.

The victim's brother-in-law, Danny Martinez, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Brewer is in serious condition but doing OK.

He was burned on his torso and arms, sheriff's spokesman Jim Leljedal said. Family members said most of his hair, including his eyelashes, had also been burned off.

He refused to attend classes at Deerfield Beach Middle School on Monday because of the bicycle incident Sunday, authorities said.

Instead of going to school, Brewer went to the apartment complex to visit a friend. He told deputies that while he was sitting by the swimming pool, he was splashed with a flammable liquid and set ablaze.

A neighbor heard his screams for help and put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, said Malissa Durkee, Brewer's sister. The teen then ripped off his shirt and jumped into the pool.

Brewer is expected to remain hospitalized for five months, Martinez said.

Bent and the Jarvis brothers were in court Tuesday and were ordered held in a juvenile detention center for 21 days. The Sun Sentinel reported that attorney Stephen Melnick said Jeremy Jarvis was "just there. He was not accused of actually doing it." Attorneys for the other two said they were "minimally involved."

The five were not charged as adults but Leljedal said the sheriff's office typically releases the names of anyone charged with a felony, regardless of age.

I find myself grasping to understand the mindset of these teenage monsters. Were they outraged because someone had the audacity to not want his family's property stolen? Did they think that setting a human being on fire was more or less fun than torturing small animals? Words fail.

 

[Fenixgoon]

:|:|:|:|:|:|:|

 

[theflyingpig]

Sue the parents for everything they have. Once they are homeless, those worthless kids will eventually get involved with drugs. This is the perfect way to destroy their lives. It's not like they'd ever amount to anything anyway. Also, because they will become homeless drug addicts, no one will care if they are murdered. It's a win/win situation. Everyone knows this.

 

[ScottyB]

21 days? That'll teach 'em!

 

[Bitek]

That was not a very nice thing for Jesus to do.

 

[Moonbeam]

Our youth mirror the quality of our lives. They reflect to us what we feel about them. We offer them a cold meaningless competitive anti-life and they offer us the murdered.

The reasons for all of this aren't out there, they are the product of our own self hate.

And it will get worse and worse because we are not about to see that they are we.

 

[brownzilla786]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Our youth mirror the quality of our lives. They reflect to us what we feel about them. We offer them a cold meaningless competitive anti-life and they offer us the murdered.

The reasons for all of this aren't out there, they are the product of our own self hate.

And it will get worse and worse because we are not about to see that they are we.

For once, theflyingpig got this right.

 

[peonyu]

horrible that it happened to this kid, but I live in the area and honestly the kids down here are trash for the most part. This act just proves it.

I blame the parents..I wouldnt doubt it if S.florida has the highest ratio of ghettotrash/trailorpark trash parents in the nation.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Our youth mirror the quality of our lives. They reflect to us what we feel about them. We offer them a cold meaningless competitive anti-life and they offer us the murdered.

The reasons for all of this aren't out there, they are the product of our own self hate.

And it will get worse and worse because we are not about to see that they are we.

Whitebread forks slander Mississippi garages too... Hampshire pigs missing qualified percussion franchises?

 

[shira]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
Our youth mirror the quality of our lives. They reflect to us what we feel about them. We offer them a cold meaningless competitive anti-life and they offer us the murdered.

The reasons for all of this aren't out there, they are the product of our own self hate.

And it will get worse and worse because we are not about to see that they are we.

Nah. I don't think parents as a group have been treating kids any worse lately than parents during earlier times. Maybe rotten economic times exacerbate the situation, but I don't know why you think it will get worse.

 

[MotF Bane]

21 days? That's it?