A black Missouri teen, who last month was doused with gasoline and set afire by two white schoolmates, now faces charges himself as he recovers from burns over most of his body.

Walter Currie Jr., a 15-year-old in Poplar Bluff, Mo., was burned on June 13 after an exchange with two teens with whom he reportedly had a previous altercation.

The youth who allegedly doused him with the gasoline and lit the fuel has been charged with assault as a juvenile, Currie’s parents said. 

On July 6, several weeks after the incident, authorities gave Currie and his parents notice that he is being charged in connection with another incident where a teen related to the youth who set him afire was hit in the face, said Winonia Currie, Walter’s mother.

“All of a sudden, they decided to charge him with something that happened on June 10, but Walter said he didn’t have anything to do with it,” she said.

Because all of the people involved are juveniles, court officials in Butler County, Missouri said they can give only limited details on the incidents and cannot discuss names.

“I can tell you that there are charges against everyone involved,” Lesi Smith, chief juvenile officer for Butler County, told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

The suspects have not been revealed publicly and could not be reached for this story.

Walter Jr. said the teen who burned him told him he had gasoline and a lighter, and then began to spray him with the fuel before striking the lighter. Walter Jr. ran and jumped on a car, rolling on it to try to stop the burning. He even shed some of his clothing. 

Initially, the youth suspected of burning Walter Jr. was arrested and was being held in a juvenile detention facility. He has since been released, according to sources familiar with the case. 

The Curries say they want to see justice for their son. They want the 16-year-old to face stiff penalties. 

“I want him to serve some time,” Walter Currie Sr. told BlackAmericaWeb.com. 

Winonia Currie said her son is scheduled for a hearing on Aug. 5 at 1 p.m. and the teen that set her son afire is scheduled on the same day, in the same courtroom, at 2:30 p.m.

The Curries say they have only lived a couple of years in Poplar Bluff, a town about 125 miles south of St. Louis, Mo.

“It’s like a country city,” Winonia Currie said.

Though the family has received words of encouragement from black and white residents, Mrs. Currie said she questions whether everyone will get just treatment.

“The prosecutors have told us they will do everything they can to try him as an adult, but we’re getting very little information,” she said.

The charges for Walter Jr. bring additional hardships for the family.

“We’ve had all these medical bills. The insurance will only cover so much. We have to take him back and forth to the hospital in St Louis,” she said. “Now we have to try to find a lawyer. That’s more money.”

Doctors have told the Curries that it may be two years before their son’s burns are completely healed. He suffered burns on much of his body, including his face, chest, neck and arms.

“The physical wounds are healing, but we still have to deal with the mental stability,” Mrs. Currie said.

The incident has taken a devastating toll on the Walter Jr. and the family, said Tierra Shaffer, Walter’s older sister via email. “He has nightmares of being burned alive,” she said.
 

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Setting someone on fire is attempted murder,but given the fact that it was done to a black youth,I doubt if the perpetrator will face any serious consequences. The justice system is very racially biased in the country..What a shame..I understand why some people take matters into their own hands...

by   
Wizeraven
July 15, 2009, 2:30 pm
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My heart goes out to the child. and granted he had an altercation prior to this, gives no one the right to burn him alive and NOT take his life.This is a death sentence anyway; due to the fact that he has to live with the scars forever This child still has to grow and be a man. Had the situation been reversed that child would be considered an adult (thru the door) and charged as such due to a black burning a white. I hope justice is served but that wont take that child's nightmare nor scars away he has to deal with this for life...

by   
Qittyqitty
July 15, 2009, 2:26 pm
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Bull crap charge that boy as an adult like you would have done the black if he had poured gasoline. These white people should just get over the fact that they do not own or live in this world by themselves, this is a world for everybody.

by   
Deniserenee
July 15, 2009, 1:58 pm
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Sad racial issues we would have no knowledge exists regularly if there was not a BAW. Black America Web hosted by Tom Joyner. Stars come and go, but give little to our community. Slogans and front page headlines on our publications can be bought and sold, so we have to communicate effectively and teach our children through our means of communication. Those who stray and haven't been taught suffer, and our press has to communicate these stories to US. Thank you for sad news, and sad but so true state of racial affairs in Missouri (of which I am not surprised, at all). Write on.

by   
Writertracy
July 15, 2009, 1:58 pm
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Giving something to someone one time;a gift glad contribution. Regularly giving becomes a part of your budget. Giving to our friends on drugs enables addictive behavior's crafty con. How, when, why, who, what do you give? Giving freely of one's self? Tithing. Lending is not giving. Giving with a glad heart, or lending for return?

by   
Writertracy
July 15, 2009, 1:55 pm
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Dstreete, you are putting words in my mouth. I simply said that hitting someone in the face is not a commonplace occurance or acceptable in my world. Consequentially, it need not be said that a fuel dousing a ingnition would be equally, if not more foreign, to my moral and sociallly accepted standards.

by   
Jiggy5
July 15, 2009, 11:39 am
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Those (2) crackers should be charged as adults, because of the horrific intent intended!

by   
Beedybo
July 15, 2009, 10:42 am
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This is what kids in Louisiana been going through all their lives. If a white does something to a black, it's commonplace, but if a black does something to a
white, that's tabu, and that kid will be dealt with!! We need to protect our kids like whites protect their
kids. With no regards for right or wrong!

by   
Beedybo
July 15, 2009, 10:40 am
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if a black juvenile do the same crime to a white boy..they would be in jail for life then they would wait until he get 18 to trial as adult..black parent you better do everything you got to beat white people at they own game..that white boy need to go to jail for agreat amount of time...because in the white boy mind is that i can do whatever to blacks and nothing done about it.

by   
Trdaye
July 15, 2009, 10:18 am
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punch someone in the face:****ault
douse someone with gasoline, light it: attempted murder

by   
RaaSaa
July 15, 2009, 9:21 am
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A fist fight is something that is taken to the principal's office for a 3 day expulsion. Dousing someone with gasoline is something you take to the courts for attempted murder.

by   
Niagaras4me
July 15, 2009, 8:57 am
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I believe the Europeans place nooses somewhere and created tension and they were let go and the brothers for taking action ( I do not approve of) are in jail. Now even though this young man started the fight pouring gasoline on him is attempted murder.

by   
Elchar
July 15, 2009, 8:12 am
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I recall several young brothers going to jail for a fight started by a few European boys the boys were dismissed from charges. The brothers were put in jail. Let see how this pans out.

by   
Elchar
July 15, 2009, 8:11 am
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Jiggy5, is setting a person on fire acceptable in your world?? There is no comparison to being hit in the face and being doused with gasoline and set on fire. Besides, we don't know if he really hit anyone in the face. That only came out after the incident with the fire.
I think this is a way to try to get the Currie family not to proceed with a case against the white child. He should be tried as an adult because 16 year olds should know that it is wrong to try to burn someone alive.

by   
Rachael49
July 15, 2009, 8:08 am
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Hey Jiggy5, if you can't see the difference between two kids fighting and one gets hit in the face versus two kids setting one on fire the maybe it's your world that twisted. They tried to burn him up probably because their friend loss the first fight. Burning some one will always be worse then a typical kids fight.

by   
Dstreete
July 15, 2009, 7:50 am
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Sherian, maybe hitting someone in the face is acceptable in your world, but not mine. Peace/out.

by   
Jiggy5
July 15, 2009, 7:09 am
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I will keep watching this story. Because I want to see what justice decide to do with someone trying to burn someone alive to someone allegedly hitting someone in the face. If they lock-up all the people that hit someone in the face they better build more jails. The scales of justice is so unbalanced when it come to race.

God Help this Family!

by   
Sherian williams
July 15, 2009, 6:39 am
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