Autistic Teen Faces Permanent Blindness After Allegedly Brutal Chemical Attack by His 'Friend'
It only took a moment for an incident to take place that could cost an 18-year-old autistic Texas teen his sight.
Amy Morgan, the teen’s mother, said the incident shows how people who seem to be friends can turn, according to KPRC-TV.
“Because he has autism, you know, we tried to vet his friends as best we could, but, you know, he was getting older, and we were trying to give him a little more freedom… When they get to be a certain age, there’s only so much you can do,” she said. “Not everyone is your friend, not everybody wants the best things for you.”
WARNING: The following video clip contains imagery that some viewers may find disturbing.
On May 20, Morgan’s son Brody, 18, of Friendswood, was out with his pals. Then he came home screaming, according to KTRK-TV.
“All I heard was he had a substance thrown in his face, which I was told was salt,” Amy Morgan said.
Nothing worked, so they went to the hospital, where the story emerged. One teen took a package from a house. Inside was a tube with powder. According to court documents, Brendan Jolly, 17, spilled some on Morgan’s shirt. Morgan pushed him away. Jolly threw the powder, which turned out to be drain de-clogger, in Brody’s face.
Jolly faces an injury to a disabled charge, according to KTRK-TV.
Court documents indicate the other teen with Jolly and Morgan has told police Jolly threw the substance at Morgan on purpose and that the package was clearly labeled drain de-clogger.
Jolly was slapped with a $300,000 bond on Friday.
Amy Morgan said her son is “just really frustrated and he’s pretty angry about it,” according to KPRC.
Her son is at home with drops and ointments for his eyes, but Morgan is worried.
“He could have fine vision today and the surface of his corneas be fine, and then tomorrow they start to break down and him lose vision,” she said.
Jolly’s family issued a statement to KTRK, saying “Our family is very distraught over the details of this case, for both of our families. I’m very saddened by the entire event, and heart goes out to Brody and his family. I believe this incident was NOT an act of malicious intent by my son to harm his friend but an accident resulting from the choices made by all parties involved.”
Amy Morgan said she has some sympathy for Jolly’s family, said Jolly’s mother is “going to try to protect her son, and I don’t blame her,”
“I know all of this has to be hard on them, but they are not having to deal with a child that is possibly going to lose his vision or scarring burns on his face,” she said.
Morgan said the incident need not have happened.
“He was saying, ‘You shouldn’t do that. That’s bad.’ Something along those lines … and I think that sort of irritated them. These boys knew Brody had autism,” Morgan said, according to KHOU-TV.
As for her son’s attacker, she said “I do feel like he should have some punishment. I don’t know what that looks like because I don’t want him to go to jail for the rest of his life.”
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