Kids arrested after teen is set on fire

By: Mike Aquilia

Deerfield Beach, Florida - As 15-year-old Michael Brewer lies sedated in a hospital bed with burns over 65 percent of his body, Broward Sheriff's deputies say they've arrested three juveniles who intentionally set him on fire.

Brewer's mother, Valerie says, "We just don't understand why anyone would do this."

The attack happened outside the Lime Tree Village Apartments, 429 SE 13 Ct., in Deerfield Beach around 3:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon. A witness said she saw a group of boys running in the complex so she went outside to investigate.

"Somebody threw something at (Michael)," Providencia Maldonado said. "I don't know if it was gas or alcohol or something and the next thing you know the kid is on fire."

After the attack, Michael ripped off his burning T-shirt and ran to a nearby pool. A neighbor also grabbed a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.

Neighbor Jennifer Nielsen, a former lifeguard, heard screaming and ran outside to help. She said she comforted Michael as he screamed in agony.

"I was like who did this to you? What happened?" she said. "He said someone threw something on me. He couldn't even say liquid. He said someone threw something on me, so it was a surprise attack."

Nielsen said Brewer's top layer of skin was peeling off, his eyebrows were gone as was the hair on the right side of his head.

"I'm still shaken up," she said. "But I'm happy I was there for that child. I just want that child to be OK."

Brewer was meeting some friends at the apartment complex when deputies say someone doused him with an accelerant and burned him.

His sister believes this dates back to an argument that began Sunday when a teenager tried to steal a bike belonging to Michael's father at the family's home.

"I told the 14 year old kid, 'Please leave the premises, you're not welcome here.' He then turned around and started threatening me and my children," Durkee said.

Durkee said Michael, who loves skateboarding and video games, is a good kid who needs his family more than ever.

"I believe he will be able to make it if everybody just prays for him," Durkee said.

The teen had been airlifted to Broward General Medical Center, but it was determined he should be taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The pain of the burns was so intense that he had to be placed on a medically induced coma.

Michael's mother said her son will need numerous skin grafts and will likely spend months in the hospital recovering.


Four Teens Accused Of Stabbing Kimberly Cates To Death

October 8, 2009
by Morbid

MONT VERNON, New Hampshire – Residents of the small, hilly town of Mont Vernon are in a state of shock after four teens entered a home to rob it, and attacked a 41-year-old mother and her 11-year-old daughter. Using a machete and a knife, Kimberly Cates was attacked while she lay in her bed and killed by multiple sharp injuries to the head, torso, left arm, and left leg. Her daughter survived the attack although she suffered severe stabbing injuries and spent hours in surgery. The attack was a completely random one, Cate’s home chosen simply because it was isolated. “They picked the house at random because it was in an isolated area,” prosecutor N. William Delker said today during the teens’ arraignments in Milford District Court. “Before they entered the home, all four defendants were aware that the intent was to kill the occupants.”

At around 4 a.m. Sunday, Steven Spader, 17; Christopher Gribble, 19; William Marks, 18; and Quinn Glover, 17 have all been arrested for their part in the crimes. Spader and Gribble were charged with first degree murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. Marks and Glover were charged with burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and armed robbery – although prosecutors claim that Glover and Marks were both armed with a deadly weapon, and Glover was fully aware that the occupants of the home would be killed.

Cate’s husband was away on business but flew back to be with his daughter in the hospital. She is expected to survive, but she will obviously have some major issues because of this. What a pity that these idiots could not have broken into a tweaker couple’s house or something. By all reports, Kimberly was an awesome lady. John Quinlan, a Mont Vernon selectman, and friend of the Cates family for five years described 42-year-old mother and nurse Kimberly Cates as an unusually friendly, happy woman devoted to her daughter.

“She was very much the extrovert,” Quinlan said. “The mother and daughter were inseparable. They were almost best friends as well. That’s what I think makes this worse because you can’t imagine anyone having a bad thought about her or a gripe with her.”

Some information on the teens have come to light as friends all report the same thing. Four kids who all fell into a downward spiral over recent years. Spader was a longtime Boy Scout who in recent months grew increasingly distant and depressed. He has a lengthy criminal record including threatening teens with a tire iron after ramming their car, charges of possessing stolen stereo equipment, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and marijuana possession charges. Most of these within recent months.

Gribble was a home-schooled Mormon who was planning to become a church missionary. Like a lot of kids raised in that environment (not all, people) he ended up rebelling X10 becoming a dark and brooding figure itching to lash out and become very fond of knives. It is reported that Marks is insecure and angst-ridden teen, and took a turn for the worse after meeting Spader. The same goes for Glover, a musician who performed in coffee shops, sang in the chorus, and starred in a school production of Cabaret (Cabaret reviews).

While New Hampshire does have a death penalty, these boys are not eligible for it. According to the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, the crime does not fit within the state’s definition of a capital murder. The death penalty is only on the table when a law enforcement or judicial officer is killed in the line of duty, in the case of murder-for-hire, if the accused is currently serving a life sentence or when the murder occurs in connection with a kidnapping, drug crime or sexual assault.

Whatever. I am sure that this case will continue to get more heinous as some of these teens turn on each other (my bet is on Marks) and the details on exactly what transpired in that home is revealed. To be able to attack a defenseless woman in her home while she slept in her bed is one thing, but to be able to do the same to an 11-year-old girl? Seriously, fuck ‘em. Fuck their childhoods.


"...and because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold." (Matt. 24: 12)