03-11-2012, 03:16 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A 13-year-old Kansas City boy is back home after two teenagers poured gasoline on him and lit him on fire.
It happened Tuesday at the teen's home on Quincy Avenue, just down the street from Kansas City's East High School. The boy lives less than two blocks away from the school and was walking home when the attack happened.
Melissa Coon said her son turned from the school's stadium onto Quincy Avenue and noticed two teenagers following him. She said the teens followed her son home and attacked him outside his front door.
"And they rushed him on the porch as he tried to get the door open," she said. "(One of them) poured the gasoline, then flicked the Bic, and said, 'This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy'."
The two attackers ran away, and the eighth grader put the fire out with the shirt off his back. He managed to call 911 on his own, then his father. He was taken by ambulance to Children's Mercy Hospital and spent several hours in the hospital's burn unit.
"You could smell the burned skin," said Coon. "You could smell the burned hair. It was just horrible." Her son lost some of his eyelashes, eyebrows, and some of the hair around his face was singed. Coon said she knows her son is lucky -- but also can't believe someone would do that to her child.
Coon said the incident will have a lingering affect on her family. "My five year old came in and asked me, 'Mom, am I going to get set on fire today?'" she said. "I was in tears."
Coon said her family will move from their home and her son will not return to East High School. She said he thinks his attackers may be students there.
Police said the two suspects are male and have facial hair. Police said one was wearing a blue hat, blue jacket, and shoes with the number 23 on the side. The other wore a blue hat, a black jacket, and wore glasses.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/30572405/detail...z1opyH4OwX
**Doesn't uttering those words make it a hate crime?
It happened Tuesday at the teen's home on Quincy Avenue, just down the street from Kansas City's East High School. The boy lives less than two blocks away from the school and was walking home when the attack happened.
Melissa Coon said her son turned from the school's stadium onto Quincy Avenue and noticed two teenagers following him. She said the teens followed her son home and attacked him outside his front door.
"And they rushed him on the porch as he tried to get the door open," she said. "(One of them) poured the gasoline, then flicked the Bic, and said, 'This is what you deserve. You get what you deserve, white boy'."
The two attackers ran away, and the eighth grader put the fire out with the shirt off his back. He managed to call 911 on his own, then his father. He was taken by ambulance to Children's Mercy Hospital and spent several hours in the hospital's burn unit.
"You could smell the burned skin," said Coon. "You could smell the burned hair. It was just horrible." Her son lost some of his eyelashes, eyebrows, and some of the hair around his face was singed. Coon said she knows her son is lucky -- but also can't believe someone would do that to her child.
Coon said the incident will have a lingering affect on her family. "My five year old came in and asked me, 'Mom, am I going to get set on fire today?'" she said. "I was in tears."
Coon said her family will move from their home and her son will not return to East High School. She said he thinks his attackers may be students there.
Police said the two suspects are male and have facial hair. Police said one was wearing a blue hat, blue jacket, and shoes with the number 23 on the side. The other wore a blue hat, a black jacket, and wore glasses.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
Read more: http://www.kmbc.com/news/30572405/detail...z1opyH4OwX
**Doesn't uttering those words make it a hate crime?