Overview
- Authorities identified the suspect as Bradey Ming, 17, who turned himself in and is being held without bond on a felony aggravated battery charge at the Marion County Juvenile Justice Center.
- Investigators say the Jan. 10–11 gathering on Kauffman Island at Lake Kerr involved a small group of teens drinking near a fire in the Ocala National Forest.
- The video and witness statements indicate Ming poured gasoline, creating a burning trail before splashing the victim, and deputies later recovered the gas can and noted empty alcohol containers.
- The injured teen suffered second- and third-degree burns and was airlifted to UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital, where he was admitted to the pediatric ICU.
- The victim initially gave his mother a different account, but his father found the footage and alerted deputies, and an investigator wrote that a reasonable person would foresee great bodily injury.