7-year-old Missouri boy doused in nail polish remover, set on fire by another child

Lilly Price | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Boy severely burned after set on fire with nail polish remover A young boy was set on fire by another boy at an apartment complex in Missouri according to his mother.

A 7-year-old boy from Independence, Missouri, is suffering from severe burns to his face and upper body after another boy poured nail polish remover on him and set him on fire Monday, according to his mother.

Ashley Lyons told WDAF an 8-year-old boy dumped flammable liquid on her son, Julien Sandlin and then lit him on fire with a candle at the apartment complex where they both live. Sandlin was immediately rushed to the Children’s Mercy Hospital and underwent surgery to salvage the skin on his face and arms.

The child's internal organs were also impacted and he may need skin grafts. There's also a possibility his lungs could collapse, his mother said. Doctors told her that it could take years for the skin to grow back and the skin pigment may be affected.

“It’s a very painful process for him,” Lyons told The Kansas City Star “There is a lot of anxiety. There is a lot of anger. There is a lot of confusion. He’s trying to maintain the best that he can, for a 7-year-old.”

Lyons said her son and the boy who attacked him were playing outside their Hawthorne Place apartment Monday when the incident occurred. Lyons told WDAF the complex has a notoriously high crime rate in Independence and that despite a recent increase in law enforcement personal around the area, crime has not subsided.

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Law enforcement officials disagree, telling WDAF the Monday incident was "isolated" and the officers assigned to patrol the complex have "definitely seen a reduction in crime and calls for service."

Lyons was not home at the time of the crime but a neighbor ran out to her son with a wet towel to extinguish the fire, she told the Star.

Managers of Hawthorne Place told WDAF they were not previously aware of the incident until media reports came out. A police investigation into the crime began Thursday.

Lyons started a GoFundMe to help with medical costs and a recovery plan once Sandlin is discharged, which includes moving out of the apartment complex.