US: Specially-abled 10-yr-old fights for life after being set on fire by bullies

Police have apprehended a juvenile who they said was responsible for causing severe burns to the victim, who is in an induced coma.

Kerrville:

A 10-year-old specially-abled boy was set on fire allegedly by bullies on Sunday in Kerrville, Texas. The United States' police on Wednesday took a child into custody for setting the minor on fire.

According to a report in WOAI NBC News, Kayden Culp was playing with two other children in a park off Wallace Street in Kerrville on Sunday afternoon when one of them poured gasoline on him, while another set him alight.

The boy has suffered 20 percent burn injuries from ears to belly and has been kept on induced coma at University Hospital. His organs are also failing, according to the victim’s family.

The Kerrville Fire Marshal said in a statement that the juvenile taken into custody is -"responsible for causing the victim’s severe burns.-"

Meanwhile, Culp’s aunt Kelly Mack alleged that the incident was premeditated.

“The other kids are saying that he was going to be riding his bike like he always is, my nephew Kayden is going to be riding his bike, and they said we’re going to grab him and take him inside and burn him,” Mack said. “If it wasn’t premeditated, it still is attempted murder,” she added.

According to a report in Houston Chronicle, Culp’s mother, Tristyn Hatchett, also said, “The other boys who were there having been telling kids at school that it was not an accident, that it was intentional.”

She said Culp was not doing well as he is being fed through tube and is suffering from a lung infection.

“My son is a special guy. He was rowdy and he liked to have fun. He considered these guys his friends, but they would make fun of him and pick on him and tease him. He was usually the brunt of that kind of joke, but he kept playing with them,” she said on Wednesday.