Five boys are accused of dousing a Deerfield Beach 15-year-old with rubbing alcohol and setting him on fire, leaving him with burns covering 65 percent of his body.
Michael Brewer, the 15-year-old Deerfield Beach boy who on Monday was doused in rubbing alcohol and set ablaze, will remain hospitalized for months at Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, where doctors said Wednesday that the boy's face and hands were spared serious damage.
Speaking to reporters, Dr. Nicholas Namias, director of the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center, said the burns scorched 65 percent of Michael's body and that jumping into the pool following the attack may have helped save his life.
Doctors were hopeful of Michael's recovery, but said the next few days would be critical because of the severity of the burns, Namias said.
"Resuscitation is going as well as can be hoped for, but it would not be fair to say everything is OK," Namias said. "This is a terrible, terrible thing that will change his life forever."
Namias, who has worked with burn victims at Ryder since 1998, said he had never treated such severe burns on a person so young in age.
He said Michael is heavily bandaged and will stay in the intensive care unit for months.
Charged in the attack are five teens who attend Deerfield Beach Middle School. All lived within a few miles of each other, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
Those charged with aggravated battery were Matthew Bent, 15; Denver Colorado Jarvis, 15; his brother Jeremy Jarvis, 13; Steven Shelton, 15; and Jesus Mendez, 15.
The boy accused of lighting the fire -- Mendez -- also is charged with second-degree attempted murder.
All five have been ordered to juvenile detention pending their next court hearing.
The attack happened Monday afternoon outside an apartment building in Deerfield Beach.
The motive for the attack: payback over money Michael owed for a video game and the thwarted theft of Michael's father's bike, according to BSO officials.
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