YET ANOTHER savage black on white attack - happened october 12
Mom of suspect in teen's burning says son is not a monster
The family of Matthew Bent described the 15-year-old as an outgoing boy who did his chores and was an altar boy at his church. He is charged in the burning of 15-year-old Michael Brewer.
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Buy PhotoCheri Bent tries to dispel popular opinion about her 15-year-old son, Matthew. CHARLES TRAINOR JR. / MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Photo BY DIANA MOSKOVITZ
dmoskovitz@MiamiHerald.com
The mother of one of the teens accused of second-degree attempted murder in last month's fiery attack against a 15-year-old Deerfield Beach boy said Tuesday that her son was not the monster being portrayed in the media and that she was sorry about what happened to the victim.
In an interview at the office of her son's attorney, Cheri Bent, the mother of 15-year-old Matthew Bent, told reporters that her son was an outgoing boy who did his chores, served as an altar boy at church and spent weekends playing basketball with his grandfather in Lauderhill. It was her first public statement since her son's arrest last month.
She declined to talk about the specific allegations against her son, but did say that she knew the victim, Michael Brewer, as a friend of her son. She was joined by the boy's grandfather and Bent's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes.
victim, prior to being burned
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He lies in a bed on a balloon-type mattress, to reduce pressure on his burned body. He is covered with bandages; a ventilator breathes for Michael Brewer because he can't do it for himself.
He's hooked up to the marvels of modern medicine that are trying to give the 15-year-old burn victim a chance to be a kid once again.
Sixty-five percent of his body is covered with second- and third-degree burns.
"People are writing horror stories ... but people just can't imagine the kind of sickness we're talking about," said Dr. Nicholas Namias, medical director of the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Burn Center in Miami.