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Subscribe to RSSFor the first time since he was set on fire more than two years ago, Michael Brewer, 17, took the stand Thursday to testify against Matthew Bent, the teen accused of instigating the attack. NBC's Thanh Truong reports.
Michael Brewer testified Thursday that he thought he would die when he was pulled from a pool after he was set on fire at a Deerfield Beach, Fla., apartment complex in 2009.
Brewer recalled a cold liquid going down his back before the burning sensation started during the attack on Oct. 12, 2009.
“I started running towards the pool and then I jumped a fence and dove toward the swimming pool,” he said.
Brewer said he remembered a woman and someone else pulling him from the pool and seeing skin hanging down from his arms.
"I felt like I was going to die," he said.
They put him in a lawn chair and told him everything was going to be OK as he started feeling very cold, Brewer said.
“I was in tons of pain,” he said, his right wrist shaking as he spoke.
Brewer took the stand Thursday afternoon in the trial of Matthew Bent, 17, one of the teens charged in the infamous burning of his classmate, who was 15 at the time of the attack.
Bent is charged with attempted second-degree murder. He faces 30 years behind bars.
Prosecutors say Bent was the ringleader of the attack, persuading two other teens to pour alcohol on Brewer and set him on fire after a dispute over money Bent claimed Brewer owed him.
Under cross-examination, Brewer admitted that he lied in a deposition about the cause of a dispute between him and Bent. He acknowledged that he previously said their dispute was over a video game, and did not suggest anything about drugs as the cause.
But on Thursday he said they had been having a dispute over money because Bent had tried to sell him a bowl, in which one can smoke marijuana or tobacco, but he did not want it.
Brewer told defense attorney Johnnie McCray that he was not hurt and just stood there after Denver Jarvis poured the liquid on him, and he was only hurt when Jesus Mendez set him on fire. Mendez pulled out a lighter and sparked the blaze that set him on fire, according to prosecutors.
Jarvis and Mendez have both pleaded no contest to charges related to the attack.
Brewer said that he did not hear anyone say they were going to set him on fire.
Evidently frustrated with one question about what happened right before the attack, he covered his face with his hands.
Brewer said that he knew Bent from the neighborhood and school and that they chilled sometimes. But later he interrupted McCray's question by saying, "Not chill – associate. He was not my friend, he was my associate."
On his birthday on Oct. 11, 2009, Bent came to his front porch and asked him if he had his money, Brewer said.
“Then he goes, 'Well, I’m going to take the bike instead'” of the money, Brewer said.
"He sits on it and he starts backing the bike up and then I yell inside for my sister," Brewer added. She came outside, and Bent ended up leaving without the bike, though he came back later with Jarvis, he said.
Brewer took some deep breaths early in his testimony, telling a prosecutor that he was nervous. He wore a blue dress shirt and a striped tie.
He said he didn't remember talking to the police on his birthday, but did remember going to his birthday party. He said he didn't go to school the next day, on Monday, Oct. 12, "because I thought Matthew Bent was going to hurt me because I got him arrested."
'I was scared'
He said he was headed to his friend's home at the Lime Tree apartments when he was surrounded by a group of boys that included Bent. He jumped a wall to go to his friend's house.
“I started walking fast because I was scared and nervous and stuff. And then I see Matthew coming around the corner," Brewer said.
“He said, 'Mike come here, nothing’s going to happen to you, nobody’s going to do anything to you,'” Brewer said. He added that he stood there as Bent, on a bike, came closer and closer as he presumably tried to distract him.
“I just remember a cold liquid going down my back and then I started walking and then I started feeling burning. And then I started running,” he said.
Brewer was burned on over 60 percent of his body and spent months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Brewer said he pretended to be sick sometimes so he wouldn’t have to go to school because he was bullied about the length of his hair and called girly.
He also said that he teased some people at Deerfield Beach Middle School.
Brewer was on the stand for 67 minutes. The trial stopped for the day right after he stepped down, and will resume Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Three law enforcement officials testified earlier on Thursday, including a forensics expert from the state fire marshal's office.
During the second day of testimony Wednesday, several teens were called to the stand to testify, including Jarvis and Jesus Mendez.
Jarvis, 17, testified that Bent was offering kids $5 or $10 to hurt Brewer the day of the attack, including pouring the alcohol, which they had found by chance, on top of him.
"I poured the liquid on him and he just standing there, and I put down the container and I seen Bent coming into the apartment, and I walk over to him," Jarvis said.
Bent rode up to him on a bike, Jarvis said.
"He go to reach into his pocket to get the money and then I see everybody running. So I look back to see why everybody's running, and I see Brewer on fire," Jarvis said.
Witness Joel Mendez, Jesus Mendez's brother, testified that Bent offered everyone $5 to hit Brewer, and confirmed that Bent told Jarvis to pour the alcohol on Brewer.
The defense claims that Bent was not the ringleader, pointing to Jarvis' recorded statements taken the day after the attack.
Bent's attorney Perry Thurston pressed Jarvis in court about saying then that nothing would have happened if he had just not picked up the container.
"No, all that on the tape happened in 2009. Since the incident of that day I try to forget as hard as I can about this whole situation," Jarvis said.
Jarvis was sentenced to 8 years in prison with a probation term of 22 years. Jesus Mendez, now 18, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, followed by 19 years of probation.
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All three of those animals that participated in this horrific act deserve to spend at least 30 yrs. in a cell.
Why waste the money on keeping them locked up? People like this need to be made an example of. I say we bring back public executions. A rope is pretty cheap.
Im down for that! I dont care whose parents these punks belong to... they should be executed and the parents serve the 30 yrs! Now thats a wake up call!
The parents should pay as well. I mean, what kind of kids do this type of thing?
-.- Why bother having jails at all when you can just kill everyone right?
Forget the justice system too. We don't need to know what happened, like who actually lit the fire and why. Executions based on assumptions and association makes everything so much more satisfying.
Put down the shovels and pitch forks people.
Congratulations to OilmanMD and jounaljournal, for providing not a parody of a B-western, "hang'm high" scene.
The perpetrators certainly deserve serious jail time, particularly the ring-leader. But no, in our society we're not going to just take them out behind the jail house and hang them.
This is why i advocate when your child is bullied get your friends go to their house catch them on the way out the door to work break both the parents arms with hammers set their dog on fire and tell them if you have to come back again to deal with their child you wont be nice like you were this time.
I think they should alll have peas put in their nose!!!!!!!
Give Bent a taste of his own medicine........set him on fire. I'll be happy to strike the match.
This act upsets me to no end, but the school needs to take some of the responsibility, he was a victim of bullying and nothing was done and the kid turned to drugs for relief and these losers were looking for a victim, if it were up to me they should fry on the electric chair, after all what goes around needs to finish them off.
"Jesus Mendez set him on fire"
It figures.
Sorry, but we need to rid our society of thugs like this. They are never going to amount to anything. All three of them should be lined up and shot.
The victim will live the rest of his life with scars, both mental and physical, along with nerve damage from the burning.
@Rico: The school can only help if they are informed of the bullying. I do not see anything in this article where it says the kid informed the school of the bullying. Also, how do you know he was doing drugs because of the bullying? There are many teenagers experimenting with drugs which is not the result of bullying.
The reason this happened is because the kid should have picked better people to associate with. I am not at all saying this was his fault. I am just saying the lesson learned here for us all is to choose who we associate more carefully.
And yeah, lock up all three of them for the max sentence. Parents should also face fines and pay medical / lawyer costs.
30 years isn't enough. The attack was a premeditated attempt at 1st Degree Murder period. And all the boys involved, regardless of who was the ringleader, are all guilty of attempted homicide and should all be put away where they can't harm anybody ever again.
This is just a perfect example of how kids these days don't even consider the consequences of their actions. This was a dispute over $20. $20 for Christ's sake. That's not even an hour's pay for most educated people. And they threw their lives away and almost took someone elses... for a stupid $20. I guarantee, these idiot kids thought they'd pour alcohol on him, light the fire, and he'd get a couple first-degree burns and maybe have to go to the emergency room for an hour. They see videos of morons pouring alcohol on their hands and lighting it on fire on youtube and thought it'd be like that.
Now see, if they had just shot the kid, some people would have been ok with that because he deserved it for hanging out with thugs
I agree with "Give it a rest!" They deserve to be removed from society, but not put behind bars... why should a portion of our salary go to keeping worthless individuals like this alive? What do they do for society? This is why I'll always be in favor of the death penalty. Too much scum out there reproducing.
I just feel sorry for the poor boy they tried to burn to death. Isn't it bad enough to have had someone try to burn you to death without also having to go through the kind of badgering third-degree the defense attorney was giving him in court? I think he has suffered enough already. What did he do to deserve that?
Marie - I hope you weren't one of the people complaining about Pres. Obama's so-called "kill list", because it looks like you probably have a much bigger one...
Hope all these guys spend 30 years in prison. I also hope Michael becomes very successful in his life and that when these low lifes get out of prision someone lets them about Michaels huge house, his super modelish wife, his European sports car and that he couldn't be happier.
I agree that these boys ought to be tried under first degree murder as it was clearly premeditated!! Brewer, on the other hand, I could just hug!!
um-- isn't this a hate crime? One black and two latinos against a white boy? Imagine the reverse-- holy Hannah, we'd be having riots in the street.
You've got that right Marla. Isn't it amazing how this is "just another crime", yet had this been the black child set on fire, the black panthers would be all over this.
No hate crime--race had nothing to do with it. This wasn't some random attack. Possible drugs and money owed brought this on. Doesn't justify what they did to this kid, though
Obviously the two of you dont even know what constitutes a hate crime you are just a biggot spouting off. Go educate yourself and you wont look like such an idiot next time you open your uninformed mouth.
Since it wasn't motivated by race, rather it appears to have been motivated by money, fear, and intimidation, it wouldn't be a hate crime.
sicko bullies !!!!!!!!!!!
hope these cowards are now shaking in their proverbial boots
that poor young man...he will have nightmares for life !
And how do you all know it wasn't motivated by race? Face the facts: anytime a white person does something to a black person or a hispanic person or a gay person, it's AUTOMATICALLY ASSUMED to be a hate crime. Look no further than the reason Zimmerman-Martin case. Why is it not also automatically assumed in the reverse situation? Oh, I forgot. You people all believe that it's only white people who are racists. It's a disgusting and pathetic double standard. "Equality" is just a code word for "I can do it but you can't."
Marla, I couldn't even imagine if it was turned the other way! I can hear the exaggerated flailing and screaming.
Madated, what's even sicker is they get away with it...
That's the point, it wasn't a hate crime. But if it had been a white kid setting an ethnic kid on fire, then there would be a huge outcry that it was a hate crime, even if it wasn't.
Exactly, it was NOT a hate crime, but if it was on the other foot, the LAWYERS would be charging that Brewer was a white kid with racial motive. For Bent not to serve serious time over this is just another slap in the face. It's funny how nothing was mentioned about Bent being black. If the roles where reversed, that is ALL you would have been reading.
I guess it only counts if you hurt a black kid in America. None of the other races count, just them. If a white and a couple latinos had done this to a black it would be another Martin free for all and the media would be calling for death. Where's the Rev. Sharpton when a white child's civil rights are trampled on? And they call white people racist. There will be no peace in this country till all people are treated the same. An injustice is an injustice, no matter your color, sex, religion or political affiliation.
Exactly. Jesse and Al would be up in arms if the races were reversed. Hypocrites all.
Poor, poor boys. They are a victim of the modern age is all. It is our fault this happened with slavery and our Nazi immigration laws. A. Libby
how do you know it was not motivated by race ?
because the victim is white ?
interesting. you were not there so you do not know, and I am no different. But I will not just discard that possibility simply because it was not stated in this article. How do we know that Mendez and Jarvez were not thinking "kill this white boy" when they searched for some flammable liquid (yeah they said that they just found it, yeah right come on) and then actually went through with their premeditated act of extreme violence. Maybe not but come on people, don't be so naive.
Slickback up there, you are so certain this was a random act of violence ?? really ??
"random" it was a well planned attack, they were trying to pay people to hurt him, random ??? WTH
Agreed. If it was the other way around, the blacks, the whole country! would be rioting. But because he's white everyone thinks nothing of it.
Although there is some double standard crap floating around I'd like to point out that the perpetrators of the crime did get arrested, and they did get sentenced. The only one left to sentence is the ring leader.
Now, if there were no charges and no arrests, I would totally be on the side of the people whining about racial double standards.
I would like to point out that this hypothetical is useless because the roles are not reversed. However, you are free to get a group of people together and protest this as a hate crime. No one is stopping you. I think you will look ridiculous, but maybe some other white people will join you.
You know why you won't do it, though? Because you don't have to deal with discrimination on a daily basis due to the color of your skin or the culture you were brought up in.
Hate Crime - Nice point, if it was reversed all hell would be unleashed.
You better believe that if this were a white on black crime some city would be looted then burnt to the ground. Animals. No, sorry. I didn't mean to insult the animals.
Was this article edited, or did it ALWAYS NOT STATE the race of the perpetrators?
check out the video, Jax--
Really? Then why is Bent on trial, and why have the other two already been sentenced?
At least they are getting prison time. That may not rehabilitate them, but will keep them off the streets for a long time.
It is said "A coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man dies but once"
As a group they felt like tough guys...
These 3 cowards will be cowards their entire lives, a miserable existence. Especially this Matthew Bent, who will wet his pants often in Prison and cry himself to sleep calling for his mommy every night.
My question is... what the hell is wrong with Florida?
If there is a weird or creepy story its always from Florida. Every state has their moments but Florida ranks supreme on the mentally challenged criminal level.
Think Charles Manson.
Think California.
jerryb4601942: From what these kids have done at this young age and their level of solving problems they will have a good long time in the College of Prison to learn ALL SORTS OF WAYS TO COMMIT CRIMES. There was a line in a movie that went: "You ain't seen bad yet--but it's coming!" These three will be in the news yet for much more horrendous crimes. Stay tuned.
Who was wearing the hoodie?
LOL
Is the judge sleeping? Why allow these questions? Whether or not they had been friends, associates, smoked grass or owed money is totally irrelevant, as there can never be a reason for setting someone on fire. And no, Marla, it is not a hate crime. But you knew that.
the point is, where is the public outcry of the white community demanding an arrest? (If I had more time I would come up with a catchy tribal jingle). The fact is, race is only a factor if a white person commits a horrific crime against a black person. A majority of those instances are not hate crimes either, but you won't see that stopping the NAACP, Jesse, Sharpton and the racist black panthers. If the KKK were to step out and demand Bent's death (like the panthers demanded Zimmerman's), would our "equal" society be kosher with that...hardly so.
Another nice try, Json. There has been an arrest, hence the trial, and no need for an outcry.
They judge can only not allow questions if a lawyer objects. Either the prosecutor didn't object to that line of questioning or the judge found the questions to be proper. I think the questions would be allowed over an objection anyway as they go to credibility of the witness.
This is sick. They should be set afire.
Irony alert!
It seems that many young people have lost the ability to TALK to each other about disagreements. They immediately go to a violent response. Don't like a guy that talked to your girlfriend? Get a gun and shoot him! Somebody leaned on your car? Beat them down with a baseball bat! Somebody look at you wrong? Do a driveby shooting on their house! I don't know if the ability to discuss and talk to people has been lost because of all the technology now, Tweeting, texting, emailing, etc. has taken the place of a face to face discussion. Very sad!
Marty:
Isn't that what we adults are teaching them? The attitude of "my way or the highway" pervades our society... WE adults are the ones that are teaching them that TALKING is "useless"... As horrific as this is, the parents of THE FOUR children should take the stand to see what have they shown their kids.
Marty...there are people who are reasonable/rational. Engaging in conversation with them usually yields productive results. Then there are people who are irrational, unreasonable or just plain ignorant. Conversation with them yields nothing...and may get you shot or beat up. Don't blame technology or youth.
Bobauss...I agree...long before techonology, bullies popped up...difference then was there was often a group of hero type athletes that kept these lilly livered cowards in line
@ Bobauss
I didn't blame technology, I don't know if all the technology played a part or not. Neither do you.
Good lord, Marty... you blamed technology right there in your post...
"I don't know if the ability to discuss and talk to people has been lost because of all the technology now, Tweeting, texting, emailing, etc..."
Agree with Bobauss and Sylvia. There will always be bullies no matter what the circumstances. We can only hope that there will always be those who will stand up to them.
The quality of our young people has gone downhill over the past 50 years.
Mark, I am young (26), and I can't disagree with you.
@ Bry In VA
So by saying "I don't know if..." is blaming technology? it is a possible contributing factor, not a definite. It could also be because of current parenting styles, the lack of fathers in homes with children now, any number of things. The only definite in a case like this is that someone overreacted and made a minor disagreement into a life altering felony.
The quality of young people is determined by their elders.
...
Yes Mike, I've thought that many times myself.
9, 10 11 deleted, sungosang signature spamming, mik-1383977 with some racism about 'whiteys', and kimb54.1 with a derail about Governor Romney.
sungosang banned, advertising.
mik-1383977 banned, multiple of equally racism-posting Saltythedog, also banned.
kimb54.1, you're suspended for a day for violating #1 of the Code of Honor. Post on-topic.
spray lighter fluid on the three of them and set them oon fire.... i 4 an i
Would you be the one to hear their pleads before you threw the match, and watch as they scream in agony? If so, seek help.
Well said Kenobi!
All I have to say is where were the parents when all this was happening. I blame the parents for not taking an active role in these kids lives and having their kids be involved in some sort of legitimate after school activities like scouting, baseball, etc.
The fact that any of these subhuman losers are going to get out of jail in a relatively short time is the really scary thing. All they will get out of being in jail is how to be a bigger and badder subhuman loser. If I were the parent of the boy they burned, none of them would be alive. Their parents' misery would be just beginning.
Very good point. We are creating a sizable population of super criminals.
Mymomdidnotraiseafool - You sound like a criminal yourself. I definitely feel sorry for Brewer (obviously), but:
sounds rather sadistic.
A bunch of stupid kids, seemingly without parental supervision. I guess the parents thought the village was raising the kids.
Now, when they get out of jail, they'll be hardened criminals.
Morons all around.
Setting someone on fire is not stupid. It is malevolent, and they should be treated as malevolent creatures.
No other Dan you are the idiot spouting off. And if it was a black it would be a hate crime. Come out of your mothers basement now and again and read OK. Hell in Milwaukee, black gangs have specifically attacked white men and women, calling them whitey and they were just called "knuckleheads" we are not bigots just tired but we don't riot we just vote. I hope one day you get a job and ride an inner city bus and you might try a spelling and grammer class too.
YOU are the idiot. You speculate and act as if it is fact. I know this would have happened if it was this set of circumstances etc etc... whatever you know NOTHING. You are just a bunch of biggots spouting off and its funny how you seem to be proud of it. You make statements about this group doing this and that group doing that. POST SOME FACTS YOU CAN PROVE or shut your biggoted mouth it's that simple. I find it sickening that you get upset when criminals who committed a viloent act get extra charges on them like it's something wrong. THEY ARE CRIMINALS, every charge possible should get added to anyone committing a violent act. In your opinion a white criminal assulting a black person is ok and you get upset when they get an extra charge because they have the same color skin as you? Give me a break. Go take off your white robes and dunce caps and join the rest of us in the 21st centuray.
damn. well said bro.
Maybe that other Dan, should stop by the U.S. Census website, and get a look at the real stats behind hate crimes. lol
These 3 minority kids, didn't burn this 1 white kid because he is white. They didn't stake him out, or get suspicious of him because he is white. It was about drugs. The kids themselves admit that.
lol They reason that bigoted "if the races were reversed" nonsense, just so they can morally justify their closet racism.
These are not people I want living free in America. Lock them up and throw away the key.
I knew people who acted like this in my hometown. They're vultures, predators and general wastes of life. They will do no good to anyone ever.
Too bad he didn't "Zimmerman" the "unarmed" thugs...uh children.
Where were the parents of the three teens in all of this? Did they know their kids were dealing dope? Did they know there was a gang mentality and they were a part of it? If Brent wasn't the ringleader, why was he offering money to take this poor kid down? Why is it so easy to give a cush deal to those who rat out their partners in crime? 8 years and 11 years doesn't pay for the lifetime of scars they caused.
Maybe Jackson and Sharpton may want to picket on behalf of the white victim. Some black children set a white child on fire for fun....where is your outrage.
I'm still waiting for Obama to say "if I had a son, he'd look just like Michael Brewer"... I'm not holding my breath.
That is very racist and draws attention away from this important, bullying issue.
That is very racist and draws attention away from this important, bullying issue.
Important bullying issue? I think we're beyond that. This is about attempted murder.
MicLane, how on earth is that racist? President Obama said, "if I had a son, he'd look just like Trayvon Martin". Now I wouldn't expect him to say that about Michael Brewer, since that would just be silly because he's a white kid, but seriously, do NOT hold your breath to hear him say, "if I had a son, he'd look exactly like Matthew Bent" either. Matthew Bent is a THUG, plain and simple, along with his THUG counterparts. Anyone with half a brain must see the glaringly obvious double standard here. Everyone except the black panthers, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson that is.
This is a life lesson for all of us: Tell the truth and only the truth! Especially, if you're being questioned by the police!! By not being up front about exactly what the reasons were he was attacked and then later in court having to admit he lied, he's tainted every bit of evidence coming out of his mouth. Because of this, the boy who he claims instigated the crime will probably get by with a fraction of the time he would have otherwise.
This sleaze bucket and his lawyer out to go to the electric chair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and his lawyer? Wow, you apparently do not understand the legal system at all. Keep on blaming lawyers for defending people, I hope no one in your family is ever accused of anything more than a parking ticket.
The poor victim looks so sad and was obviously reliving the moments before he lost consciousness while testifying. Bastards who did this. The attorney for the ringleader makes me so angry!
He's doing his job, defending his client, that's how the system works. As long as the lawyer is not knowingly suborning perjury it doesn't matter what he/she thinks of the client, your duty bound to provide the best defense possible. This case might not be the best example but there are very good reasons the system works that way, read "The Trial" by Kafka for one alternative to our system.
Dan-629304 too bad their isint a reply function under your quote racist it would have been quite fun to give you your dumbest s.hit in the forum award for saying this is isint a hate crime because the guys white and according to you, you cant be target of racism if your white. i hope you cant breed or if you do at least god has the good sense to have you and your family hit by a truck.
It seems to me Dan-629304-you are the one filled with hate on this board. Geez man. Can't you respond in a civil manner even if you don't agree. You wonder what is wrong with the world and people on a blog have to attack someone else they don't agree with or spew their "hateful words". How are younger people supposed to know any different when all they have to do is look at something like your posts and think that it is Okay? Do you think that is Okay? Are you like that everyday? Wow!
People need to practice respect a LOT more and if you don't know what that is, then learn it.
"Careful of the things you say, children will listen" and the "Apple doesn't fall very far from the tree" would be two things that come to mind. Another would be if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all. Your hateful responses add nothing to the discussion. Responses like that are lazy and ignorant and do not make someone look like the "better" person.
Where's Al Sharpton?....and why isn't he showing baby pics of Matthew Bent on his MSNBC show?..isn't he going to spew that Matthew Bent is a innocent black kid riding his bicycle (his crippled grandmother bought him) is being set up by a white and hispanic.
Stupidity runs very deep in your family?
I just can't imagine someone doing this to another human being. I just hope the justice system works and everyone involved serves a substantial amount of time for the crime they committed.