DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 14) -- Five teenagers were charged with aggravated battery Tuesday for dousing a 15-year-old with rubbing alcohol and setting him on fire after a dispute over money owed and an attempted bicycle theft, authorities said.
Michael Brewer was hospitalized with burns on more than three-quarters of his body after the attack at a Deerfield Beach, Fla., apartment complex Monday.
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A 'Most Heinous Crime'
Jeremy Jarvis, 13, left, and his brother Denver Jarvis, 15, appear in court Tuesday on charges that they set a 15-year-old boy on fire Monday in Deerfield Beach, Fla. They and three other teenagers were accused of splashing rubbing alcohol on Michael Brewer, 15, and lighting him on fire, burning more than 75 percent of his body.
Joe Cavaretta, Sun Sentinel / MCT
Joe Cavaretta, Sun Sentinel / MCT
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.
"In my 31 years, you always say, 'It's the most heinous crime I've seen,'" Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told the Miami Herald. "In this case, this one fits in that category.''
Police say Brewer had borrowed $40 from Bent to buy a video game but never paid him back. When Bent tried to steal a bike belonging to Brewer's father, Brewer called police.
Brewer 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 Fort Lauderdale 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.
The Sun Sentinel said that all five boys had prior criminal records.
There is something seriously wrong with the juvenile justice system in the U.S. The actions committed by these kids are grave enough that they need to get more than the slap on the wrist that the current juvenile justice system gives them. However, these are still kids. Stupid, lame-brained, punks but still kids. The scientific research unequivocally shows that kids these age have seriously impaired judgment. To punish them by sending them to adult jails is cruel and unusual. We need to seriously reform the juvenile justice system so there is a middle way where serious juvenile offenders can be punished with more than a slap on the wrist but still be given a decent shot at rehabilitation. The U.K. and New Zealand has shown cases where child murderers properly handled by the justice system have grown up to be normal, law-abiding, and moral adults.
But then again, American society is vengeful and bloodthirsty and we will just continue this cycle of teaching our kids that violence and cruelty are okay.