Sebastian Jonathon Lindsey tossed gasoline into a burning barrel, fatally burning the nearby Madison Lewis, police said. (Mug shot: Jack County, Texas; image of Lewis: Her family)
A 23-year-old Texas man is facing charges after authorities say he tossed gasoline into a burning barrel during a get-together with friends, causing a teenage girl’s hair and clothes to catch on fire and fatally burning most of her body.
Madison Lewis, 17, languished in a medically induced coma since early Dec. 16 and died on Saturday.
Now the defendant, Sebastian Jonathon Lindsey, is locked up at the Jack County Jail without bond on a count of manslaughter.
Witnesses told police Lindsey and Lewis were with a group of people in the backyard of a home in the 600 block of West Pine, according to Wichita Falls CBS affiliate KAUZ. A small fire was burning inside a metal barrel.
Lindsey allegedly tossed gasoline on the fire to blame the flames bigger, but Lewis was standing next to the barrel. Flames caught on her hair and clothes, police said.
Fearful of getting in trouble because of the use of alcohol at the scene, the people there did not call 911, cops said. Instead, they took her to a community hospital. From there, she was flown to Parkland Hospital in Dallas with burns covering most of her body.
Lewis sustained burns over 90% of her body and received multiple surgeries in medical providers’ efforts to save her.
“I thought it was a cup at first, but now I found out that it was an actual pan full of gasoline into the barrel, and they say that it just exploded and just went in her direction,” Lewis’ mother, Ericca Hammond, told Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW. “It was devastating. Completely burned her whole body.”
At one point during treatment, doctors reportedly took Lewis out of her coma and thought it was a good sign that she made some movements with her tongue, but there were worries that she lost function in her left eye and doctors returned her to the coma, according to KDFW.
Hammond released a statement on Monday.
“I’m thankful for the continued prayers,” she said, according to Dallas Fox affiliate KDFW. “I’m focused on putting my baby girl to rest.”
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