Deerfield burn victim Michael Brewer celebrates first night out of hospital

December 23, 2009

sun-sentinel.com

By Ihosvani Rodriguez and Rachel Hatzipanagos

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On his first night out of the hospital since he survived being set on fire two months ago, Michael Brewer watched a movie while lounging on a couch and eating a pizza snack, his mother said Wednesday...

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[Michael] was burned on more than two-thirds of his body in the Oct. 12 attack in Deerfield Beach, was discharged from the hospital's Burn Center on Tuesday afternoon. Brewer is staying at a house that his mother described as a "safe place." She would not give the location.

Three teens have been charged as adults with attempted murder for allegedly surrounding Brewer, dousing him with rubbing alcohol and lighting him on fire.

Valerie Brewer said that her family plans to stay in South Florida but will not remain in their old neighborhood, where the attack occurred and relatives of the accused boys live.

Michael doesn't want to return, she said. "He doesn't feel safe going back home," Valerie Brewer said. "He does fear for his life going back there."

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Appearing on national TV before the news conference, Valerie Brewer said she has no opinion on whether the teens accused of setting her son on fire should be tried as adults...Valerie Brewer said she's "still not focusing" on the matter. "That's just too negative for me," she said.

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Instead, she said she's concentrating on her son's recovery, calling him her hero...

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"He is just an incredible person; I'm so proud of him," Valerie Brewer said. "He is my hero, he really is."...

read entire article here

Michael Brewer Talks To Police After Burn Attack - ABC News

Right: Jeremy and Denver "DC" Jarvis, the sympathetic attackers of Michael Brewer.

November 25, 2009

abcnews.go.com

Injured Teenager's Parents Grateful for Support

By SARAH NETTER and SUZAN CLARKE/ABC News

The parents of the Florida boy who police say was set on fire by other teens said they're putting their energy into his recovery rather than focusing on the prosecution of the suspects. Valerie and Michael Brewer Sr.. told "Good Morning America" that their son, Michael Jr., 15, is determined to recover from the second- and third-degree burn injuries he sustained after he was doused with alcohol and set ablaze Oct. 12.

"He's making progress, in my eyes, in leaps and bounds," Valerie Brewer said today...

Watch video here

Mom Says Burned Florida Teen Michael Brewer Concentrates on Recovery

Michael Brewer, Burn Victim, Has Thousands Raised For Him At Benefit

Couldn't help but notice that on the video where the little bastard Jeremy Jarvis wants to express his "deepest sympathy" to Michael. He's not sorry? Just sympathetic? It is obvious someone else wrote the note for him, as little wanna-be thugs like him do not speak that way. All he really wanted was to express how much he misses his little bastard brother...

He needs to be charged too. You can't tell me he was just standing there with his thumb up his butt. He was acting all tough and intimidating, just like the others. An eye for an eye. Set all five of them on fire 25 feet from a swimming pool. See how long it takes to them to get to the pool and then suffer the pain. THEN they might actually be sorry. But probably only for themselves.

Michael Brewer, Boy Burned by Bullies, Getting Better

Right: MySpace Photo of Michael Brewer.
cbsnews.com
by Sammy Rose Saltzman

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Michael Brewer, the South Florida boy who was set on fire by a group of teens is showing improvement, according to doctors who are treating him for severe burns.

Brewer, 15, is being treated at a burn center jointly run by the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida. The center director said Thursday the teen's wounds have not become infected, which is a common complication in severe burn cases. However, Dr. Nicholas Namias says Brewer's condition can change any time...

The first of many surgeries to repair the boy's skin was performed Monday. Doctors cut away damaged sections and replaced them with skin grafts from cadavers.

Five teens have been charged with aggravated battery in the attack earlier this month at a Broward County apartment complex. Authorities say they were retaliating in a quickly escalating dispute over a video game.

Two more kids in court for burning Michael Brewer

Right: Michael Brewer from wpbf.com

Reported by: Sun-Sentinel Last October 14, 2009

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DEERFIELD BEACH, FL - Two 15-year-old boys appeared in court this morning on charges they set a Deerfield Beach boy on fire because of what authorities said was a squabble involving a video game and a bicycle.

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Steven Sheldon and Jesus Mendez, both 15, are charged with aggravated battery.

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Mendez, who authorities say took a lighter from his pocket and flicked it at a teen drenched in rubbing alcohol Monday, is also charged with attempted second-degree murder.

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Left, Steven Sheldon- -Right, Jesus Mendez

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Three other boys -- Denver Jarvis, 15; his 13-year-old brother Jeremy Jarvis; and Matthew Bent, 15 -- appeared in court Tuesday and are charged with aggravated battery.

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The 15-year-old victim, Michael Brewer, is in critical condition at University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center.

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As he did with the other three boys who are charged, Circuit Judge Elijah Williams ordered Shelton and Mendez to the county juvenile detention center for 21 days while prosecutors decide whether to charge them as adults. They also were ordered not to have any contact with each other or Brewer.

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The mothers of both suspects were in court. "Mom, I don't know what to tell you," Williams said to Mendez's mother, Yolanda Mendez. "Good luck."

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From Left: Jeremy Jarvis, Denver Jarvis, Matthew Bent
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The teenager's next court hearing is Nov. 2.

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Sheldon's mother, Patricia Hollis, walked out of the courtroom in tears. She said she didn't want to talk about her son.

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Earlier she told WFOR-Ch. 4 that her son was not involved in the incident.

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"I feel so sorry for [Brewer], I really do. And it's sad. It really is," Hollis said. "My prayers go out to him and his family."

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Sheldon, wearing a blue jumpsuit, and Mendez, wearing a green one, walked calmly out of the courtroom with their wrists and ankles chained.

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Sheriff's investigators say Sheldon admitted to being a part of the group that approached Brewer.

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"As far as I know, no he didn't," Hollis told WFOR. "Wrong place at the wrong time."
Sharon Jarvis, the mother of the Jarvis brothers, declined to comment this morning, but said she had hired an attorney.

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Brewer's burns have worsened since he was admitted to the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center, where he is in critical condition, his family said today.

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The burns on his hands and feet have gone from second-degree to third-degree, relative Danny Martinez said.

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"He's stable and awake, but his burns are getting worse," Martinez said.

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read entire article here

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Doctor: Burned Fla. teen 'not out of woods yet'

.Associated Press

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Michael Brewer (WPTV ) MIAMI (AP) --

...Dr. Nicholas Namias with Jackson Memorial Ryder Trauma Center said Wednesday that the injuries Michael Brewer suffered were among the worst and the teen is not "out of the woods yet."

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...Namias says Brewer's face is not badly burned, but the teen is at risk of infection and could experience organ failure in the coming months.

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Police say it happened after he stopped someone from stealing his father's bike.

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Michael Brewer update: FIVE Teens Arrested After Boy Set On Fire

Sheriff Says 15-Year-Old Torched In Retaliation For Reporting Attempted Theft
October 13, 2009

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Five teenagers have been arrested in connection with an attack on a 15-year-old boy who was deliberately set on fire at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies were called to the Lime Tree apartments in reference to a teen who suffered a burn injury at about 3:15 p.m. Monday.

When deputies and firefighters arrived, they found the victim, Michael Brewer, sitting in a lawn chair near the pool. The teen had been burned extensively above the waist, and he said that he was splashed with a flammable liquid and then set on fire...

Investigators said one of the teens doused Brewer with rubbing alcohol and Mendez flicked a lighter at him in retaliation for reporting an attempted bicycle theft Sunday night.

"This group of kids thought that because the kid may have snitched him out and turned him in because they were trying to steal his dad's bike, they felt, in their mind, it was OK to set him on fire," Sheriff Al Lamberti said..."A couple of them last night were laughing about it," Sgt. Steve Feeley said of the suspects.

Michael Brewer, 15, Intentionally Set On Fire, Five Teens Arrested

Photo from wpbf.com

October 13, 2009
allheadlinenews.com
Ayinde O. Chase - AHN Editor

West Palm Beach, FL (AHN) - A 15-year-old Deerfield Beach boy who was intentionally set on fire Tuesday, remains heavily sedated and undergoing medical treatment. According to his family the teen is badly burned and is under heavy anesthesia.

The boy, identified as Michael Brewer, was sitting by a swimming pool about 3:15 p.m. Monday when three other teenage boys poured a flammable liquid on him and set it on fire. Broward Sheriff's Office reports two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old will be charged Tuesday afternoon and slated to appear before Circuit Judge Elijah Williams. Two others were arrested after questioning. Names have not been released.

Brewer who is in the seventh grade reportedly suffered burns over 75 percent of his body. Some of the most heavily damaged areas according to medical officials are on his arms and torso. Family members revealed that most of his hair including eyebrows and eyelashes were singed completely off.

Monday after the boy was airlifted from the scene doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital anesthetized him and scraped the burned portions of skin off.

Investigators are trying to ascertain if the attack on Michael is tied to an incident the day before when the boy stopped someone from stealing his father's bicycle.

Witnesses told police that Michael was screaming and a neighbor used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames. The boy who was who was scorched and still in severe agony jumped into the pool.

Read more: teens arrested www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/

I considered not covering this story. When I heard it on HLN this afternoon I was just horrified and felt myself go pale. Almost like an old-fashioned faint. How in the world could these teenagers do such a thing? It was planned, because they brought the gas.