MIAMI – For the first time, police have released audio recordings of Michael Brewer's conversation with officers about what happened the day he was set on fire.
Brewer, 15, was burned over 65 percent of his body in the October attack at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex. Police said a group of teens with whom he had been arguing doused him with rubbing alcohol and set him ablaze.
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The audio recordings released Tuesday came from a Nov. 23 conversation Brewer had with police officers at Jackson Memorial Hospital's burn unit, where he stayed for more than two months.
"Why did you choose not to go to school?" a detective asked Brewer.
"I was afraid I was going to get jumped," Brewer said.
Brewer does not remember every detail of that day, but witnesses stated in transcripts and interviews just released by the State Attorney's Office that 15-year-old Matthew Bent, better known as Zeke, was angry with Brewer and called him a snitch because his family called police over an attempt to steal a bicycle.
"Zeke said, 'Nobody's going to hit you,' but then somebody poured something on me and caught me on fire. Then I started running and I jumped into the pool," Brewer said.
Brewer said that 15-year-old Denver Jarvis poured the alcohol on him, but he was not sure how he caught fire. Other witnesses said 16-year-old Jesus Mendez was playing with a lighter, and they alleged that he was the one who set the fire.
"There was cold stuff all over my clothes, and all of a sudden I started burning," Brewer said.
Police said Brewer jumped in the complex's swimming pool in an attempt to put out the flames.
"I get in the pool, and this lady comes out on the phone with the ambulance people. This guy comes running out, too. He tries to pull me out of the water and I said, 'No, leave me. Leave me,' because my skin was, like, hanging," Brewer said.
Mendez, Jarvis and Bent are charged as adults with second-degree attempted murder in the attack.
Brewer was released from Jackson Memorial Hospital just before Christmas. He was readmitted for a respiratory problem but has since been released again.