Aug 21, 2008 10:50 pm US/Central
Person In Custody In Case Of Landlord Set On Fire
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Police have a person of interest in custody in the gruesome burning of a 77-year-old landlord on the city's South Side.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports the victim, Harlan Hayes, is a community activist and the man in custody a former tenant in Hayes's building.
There are no charges yet but Hayes' family is confident the man in custody is the one who committed the crime and they're glad he's off the street.
"My dad is a loving man and he didn't deserve this," said Hayes' daughter, Lisa Stoval. "No one deserves anything like this."
Stoval says the horror of seeing her dad lying burned and fighting for his life has eased a bit with the knowledge that man believed to be responsible is now in custody. But what she can't understand is how he could do this to her father.
"My dad opened his arms up to this guy, let him in his life, and then I feel like he was betrayed," Stoval said.
Earlier Thursday, the son of Harlan Hayes, Sr. made this statement:
"My family and I are experiencing grief that is indescribable and at times unbearable. Every time I close my eyes, the images in my head are of my dad in flames, screaming, hollering and running for his life, while on fire in excruciating and traumatizing pain."
Hayes was burned over more than 90 percent of his body early Tuesday morning after the suspect knocked on Hayes's door, threw gasoline on him and lit him on fire. Stoval says her father was able to tell police who attacked him.
She says the suspect is one of Hayes' former tenants, apparently upset because his family had been evicted from the building at 63rd Street and Ellis Avenue and because Hayes dismissed the suspect's mom as a caregiver for his disabled sister.
Now all Stoval and other relatives can do is pray Hayes will recover.
"They said the first 24 hours were critical. He made it through the first 24 hours with no complications; he made that first hurdle," she said. "The doctor informed me today that… his body is fighting. He's a fighter."
Hayes remains unconscious in critical condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
It is not clear if the suspect was picked up by police or if he turned himself in.
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