Jul 3, 2009 11:37 am US/Central
Boys Won't Be Charged With Burning 9-Year-Old
Joshua Judkins Said Boys Doused Him With Alcohol, Set Him On Fire
HAMMOND, Ind. (CBS) ―
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Joshua Judkins, 9, had second- and third-degree burns on much of his body after he was somehow lit on fire while spending time with three older boys. Police say the boys will not face charges.
Judkins Family
Three boys will not face any charges for allegedly setting a 9-year-old friend on fire in Northwest Indiana.
Joshua Judkins, 9, and the other boys were playing in a wooded area in Hammond last month.
Joshua said the three older boys he'd just met the day before threw alcohol on his back and lit his shirt on fire.
He suffered second- and third-degree burns over his entire upper body.
Police said they interviewed the other boys in the case, and they said Joshua may have spilled the alcohol on himself. They said they were lighting sticks with rubbing alcohol, and that Joshua accidentally caught on fire.
Doctors said 20 percent of Joshua's body was covered with burns and that he will be in pain for some time.
"We're hoping that he's not going to suffer for the rest of his life," Stroger Hospital of Cook County Dr. Stathis Poulakidas said last month. "But it will take the better part of six months to a year for his rehabilitation."
Last month, police had contacted the FBI in the case as a possible hate crime. Joshua is black, while the three boys accused of setting him on fire are white.
Judkins' mom e-mailed CBS 2 a photo of his wounds. So much of his skin is burned away, we couldn't share that picture. We're told it takes an hour-and-a-half to change his dressings every day, and it is a very painful process.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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