Michael Brewer Hospitalized: 5 Teens Charged With Setting Florida Teenager On Fire

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.

Comments

[AspenSyzygy]

I just heard about this awful case. Does anybody know anything about the thugs who burned this child?

[ssk333]

To send a get-well card:

Michael Brewer
Jackson Memorial Hospital
Public Relations Office
1611 NW 12th Avenue
Miami, FL 33136

To make donations:

Call the family spokesman Danny Martinez at 561-574-7131 or Bank of America and Jackson Memorial Foundation have set up a fund in Brewer's name. Donations are being accepted at any Bank of America branch, and the Jackson Memorial Foundation can be reached at [phone].

[ssmack3]

The punishment should fit the crime. Line these bas tards up and using a flame thrower on them! I am so frickin' sick of this crap!!!! So much for the post-racial era in the Obama administration.

[cycle3man]

I think the flame throwing should be shown live on TV!

[gaysofla]

Keep praying for burned South Florida teen Michael Brewer who holding on to life at Jackson Memorial. Michael was doused with rubbing alcohol and set ablaze by five other teens over 'snitching'. To learn more and find out how you can help, visit the Myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/504034193

[anitaj]

My heart goes out to Michael Brewer and his family. Burns are excruciating. Five months of in-patient treatment for the burns that cover 3/4 of his body will be hell. I hope the Brewer family has good medical insurance; a policy that includes mental health treatment would be a bonus. Watching someone you love endure screaming pain is not something I would wish on anyone.

Michael's assailants should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They are bullies. Perhaps their sentence could include some community service. Mopping floors in a burn ward (far away from their victim) could be educational for them.

[Nukecell]

Any violent crime is a hate crime. people dont set other people on fire because the like them. Its hate oriented period. Where is Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson when minorities attack whites? The race card isnt going to be played here i assure you. They should be tried as adaults. Several of these "kids" are just months shy of driving a car. Nobody can say the didnt know their actions were dangerous.

[ProperGanda]

On the radio today, they said the Mother of the boy who was set aflame requested time off work to be with her son, and they laid her off. Not sure of the company's name, but very soulless

[Bongborg]

A few years back I worked a job at the Broward County landfill operated by Wheelabrator, where they burn the garbage for steam and run a generator off of it and sell power back to Florida Power & Light. I was repairing the controls for their boiler and it took months. The place is right in Deerfield Beach. Every day I drove past that apartment complex, and every day there were teenagers out in the street who should have been in school. It looked like the police were just hanging out at the donut shop all day, or at least there was always a police car parked there. This happened because the little bastards who did it are psychopaths, but it also happened because there are people in Deerfield Beach and Broward County who are not doing their jobs.

[CivilGargoyle1]

If I was a parent of the victim I would be outraged at the perpetrators and stunned that my child was a victim of such a crime. I would want to know why this act occurred. As a parent of a perpetrator I would be outraged at my child and dumbfounded and shocked that somehow I had failed in the upbringing of that child.

I believe that peer pressure among children is often overlooked. Do you accept your children? Do you know the influence of your children's friends on your child?

To many of you comedians who have posted here, I see no humor in your comments.

[KJLSanDiego]

So true! Everyone should know their children's friends! Even if your kid is a good kid, they can be guilty by association if they hang in a bad crowd.

[Coinyer101]

I think if one of 'em was my kid, I'd bail 'em out, just so's I could whoop the 'stoopid' outta him, before taking him back to 'Juvey' or jail.......,

[izzat7]

Mike is my neighbor- lives right next door , this horrible act was intentional. A kid tried to steal his dad's bike from their porch, The police were called and the theif threatened Mike if he saw him at school the next day, Mike skipped school because he was afraid , he went down the street at a friends house when he was encountered by 5 other kids and they poured rubbing alcohol on him and set him on fire. Two of the kids were LAUGHING as he was burning. He is in for a long recovery, medical expenses are over $500,000.00, BOTH his parents were let go of their jobs YESTERDAY. PLEASE help. NO ONE deserves to be set on fire over being a snitch.

[Smirk]

That is really awful. Hope he recovers fully and that an account will be set up so that people can make donations to help cover his medical costs.

[KJLSanDiego]

I don't have much, but I'd like to know how to pitch in and rally for this kid!

[Eric in Ayden]

Why were his parents laid off from their jobs?

[monk2000]

Yeah that is ridiculous.

These kids deserve jail for a LOOOOOOOOOONG time.

[izzat7]

Don't know my friend. But they were. Vey sad.

[MountainPenelope]

He wasn't being a snitch. He was protecting his father's property.

[SueInCA]

If there was no intent on behalf of these boys to commit a serious crime, then why did they douse this kid with rubbing alcohol? It takes intentional thought to douse in alcohol and know a lit fire would cause serious harm.

Under 18? The parents are responsible for their actions. Even if the law in FL is 16, parents should be held responsible. Maybe if enough parents are held to account for their kids, this kind of activity will stop.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/deerfield/sfl-set-on-fire-bn101209,0,7529916.story

[snidewoman]

Michael Brewer's family has set up a foundation with Bank of America for anyone who wants to help with medical expenses. The foundation's account number is 898035752616 and funds can be deposited at any Bank of America

[SueInCA]

Thank you for that information. I will definitely deposit some funds in that account. Wonder if the responsible kids parents will contribute? Not nice for me to say I know

[Smirk]

Thanks for the info.

[weebils]

I just read this and will be going to my local BOA. Thanks

[CivilGargoyle1]

Oh really? Well then here is my $100,000.00. Spend it wisely.

[Jaywalkker]

Can you provide a link that proves that account number is going to the family and not a Nigerian prince? And why isn't it a paypal account?

[wmramlal]

I hope the authorities will reconsider and charge them as adults with attempted murder. Secondly, I sincerely hope this child gets ongoing medical treatment and monetary damages.

[etiennemacchias]

It's a shame that our society has been shaped into forcing both parents to work to make a decent living -- or an extra-hard-working single parent. These kids clearly lacked a proper parental guidance.

It's sad that these kids turned out to be such monsters at such young ages, but they deserve to be put in a prison for a long time.

[SueInCA]

Just a thought for you, I grew up in the 60's both my parents worked but I did not go out and commit a c rime. Nor did any of my siblings or friends who were in the same situation. It has to be more than just that. I know, it contributes but you can properly guide your kids even if you work.

[kk78]

the 60s where a different time then today. There is way too much violence the children of today are subjected to.

[CJWebber]

Ya, right. It can't be that they are nuts? Setting someone on fire is something they didn't automatically know was wrong?

[jimbeaux1961]

Fifteen is plenty old enough to know what they were doing; prison.