(VitalNews.org) – An 11-year-old girl has been left with second and third-degree burns across her back and limbs after another child allegedly attacked her with acid at a playpark. The unnamed 12-year-old has been charged with felonious assault as well as intent to do great bodily harm but has since been released on a $10,000 bail.
Deaira Summers, 11, had been playing at a local playground in Detroit with her cousin when an ongoing argument between her cousin and the suspect escalated. Summers left the park as the two argued but went back briefly to retrieve a purse she had left behind. As she returned to get her property, the suspect allegedly doused her with acid, causing painful injuries and scarring.
Speaking from their home to reporters, her mother Dominque Summers questioned how a young child could even think to take such a dangerous thing to a playpark, let alone use it against another child. She said that she doubted a child could come up with such an idea alone, and suspects that an adult, or a number of adults, had a hand in planning the assault. As yet, only the child who allegedly threw the acid has been arrested.
Deaira’s grandmother has set up a fundraising account to help pay for the girl’s ongoing treatment, and her grandfather has organized an event at his restaurant, Roscoe’s Beans and Greens, to raise funds. Deaira’s mother explained that the emotional and physical impact of the alleged attack has been huge for the girl and her family. While getting dressed for the day used to take the child twenty minutes or so, it now takes her two hours with her mother’s help. She has to take medication daily and needs her bandages to be changed multiple times a day.
Kym Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor, described the case as “extremely troubling” in a statement, adding that there was “no excuse” for this sort of violence.
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