Teen burned alive by mother's jealous boyfriend

Antoine Willis, 19, said that his mother's boyfriend, Curtis Reed, attacked him after he stepped in when the 54-year-old threw a frozen chicken at his mother and threatened her with a knife at their home in St Pauls, Minnesota. In his first interview, Mr Willis, who is covered in bandages to protect his second and third degree burns, tried to hold back tears as he told how he believes his mother's boyfriend of eight years wanted to kill him.

                              Curtis Reed, 54, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and a $30,000 fine

'I thought I was going to die. I've never been burned alive. It was terrible,' said Mr Willis, speaking for the first time from hospital.

The teenager said that Reed, who he had seen as a father figure, threatened him in the early hours of Wednesday morning after he intervened to break up a fight between him and his mother.

According to court documents, Reed allegedly attacked his girlfriend, Mr Willis' mother, at about 3am, pushing and hitting her, before throwing a frozen chicken at her in an attempt to get alcohol.

Mr Reed allegedly threatened Mr Willis after he tried to stop him by grabbing him while two friends punched him after he had walked towards Mr Willis' mother armed with a knife and frying pan.

'He was walking around the house with hammers and stuff, still talking stuff like, "Don't go to sleep, don't' go to sleep",' Mr Willis said.

Mr Willis said that he, his girlfriend and his mother tried to stay awake by playing video games because they were fearful for their safety, but all fell asleep at around 5:30am.

He was sleeping on the sofa at around 7am on Wednesday morning, when he said he woke up to the smell of burning flesh and realised that he was covered in flames.

'All I know is I was asleep and I had fire on my head when I woke up,' Mr Willis said.

'I took my shirt off, patted my head down and he was chasing me with a bottle of lighter fluid and kept spraying me with it.

Police files said that Reed shouted, 'I got you! I got you now!' as Mr Willis tried to put out the flames.

Mr Willis' mother told officers that a fireball the size of a basketball engulfed her son's head as he tried to run away.

According to court papers, Reed ran to a neighbour's house and called 911 and said: 'I did something stupid'. He also said that he had taken several pills.

Doctors do not know if Mr Willis will have permanent scaring and it could be three to four weeks before he is released from hospital.

He suffered second and third degree burns to his hands, face, neck, torso, scalp and ears.

Most of his body is currently covered with band-aids and gauze and he is still throwing up the lighter fluid that was used to burn him.

But Mr Willis said that what is most painful is the thought that his mother's boyfriend would attack him

Source:Dailymail