A young woman in North Carolina was doused in flammable liquid and set on fire as she walked down the street days before Christmas, according to a local news outlet.
WRAL News in Raleigh-Durham reported that Ashanti Downey, 20, was rushed to the emergency room Dec. 16 with second- and third-degree burns on the right side of her body.
A staff member at Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford called the Harnett County Sheriff's Office at approximately 6:55 p.m. to report the attack on Downey, which occurred as she walked along Highway 27 toward the Sanford Dollar General.
Downey told authorities that someone approached her from behind, poured flammable liquid on her and set her on fire.
"How could they do this to my baby?" Donecia Davis, Downey's mother, told WRAL. "You didn't have to do this to her."
According to the outlet, Downey was later moved to a local burn center, where she is listed in critical but stable condition.
Davis has set up a GoFundMe to help assist with her daughter's medical expenses and wrote that Downey sustained third-degree burns over 70% of her body.
The online fundraiser had raised more than $40,000 – or 53% of its goal – as of Thursday evening.
Davis shared that her daughter will be celebrating her 21st birthday on New Year's Day and said that "her life will be forever changed" because of "the hatred of an individual or individuals."
"No parent should have to see their child in the condition my daughter is in," she said. "I am making her my top priority and have been by her side at the hospital since this incident occurred."
Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats told WRAL this was one of the most heinous crimes his department has ever investigated.
"It's just a nightmare for this family," he said, adding that police are still trying to determine a motive.
"It could have been domestic-related," he said. "It could have been a gang initiation. We're mystified by what's happened."
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Ronald Beasley at 910-893-0151, the Harnett County Sheriff's Office at 910-893-9111, the tip line at 910-893-0300, or submit a tip at P3Tips.com.
In a similar incident, a woman sleeping on a New York City subway car was burned to death on Sunday after being set on fire, allegedly by a 33-year-old Guatemalan national who entered the U.S. illegally after previously being deported in 2018. Police in that case do not believe the suspect knew the victim.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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