After repeatedly being bullied by a neighbor’s son, a 6-year-old boy was set on fire. Following the terrifying ordeal, which the child was lucky to survive, the victim’s mother says the bully’s family gave a disturbing excuse for the near-fatal attack.
A Bridgeport, Connecticut mother rightfully wanted justice after her little boy, Dominick Krankall, was brutally burned in an assault that nearly cost the child his life. Despite the devastating effects on the child, the mother says the attacker’s family not only made excuses for the abuse but found the whole event humorous.
According to Kayla Deegan, her little brother, 6-year-old Dominick Krankall, was playing in the backyard when she suddenly heard blood-curdling screams. When her brother ran inside, the horror set in.
“As soon as he walked down the stairs, the bully called his name and lured him over around the corner, and in a matter of seconds, he came back around the corner screaming, saying, ‘Mommy, they lit me on fire,'” Deegan told WVIT.
The boy says the neighbor’s 8-year-old son got into a shed on the property and found some gasoline and lighters. He then called Dominick to come over to him. When the child approached, the bully threw a literal fireball directly at his face. Luckily, Dominick knew to stop, drop, and roll if he was ever on fire.
“What he did was pour gasoline on a tennis ball, took a lighter, lit it up and just chucked it right at my brother’s face — and then ran away from him and watched him burn,” Deegan said.
Dominick was rushed to the burn unit at Bridgeport Hospital where he was treated for third-degree burns all over his face, head, and leg. Medical professionals said the boy was lucky to have survived the incident. Still, the family was far from relieved. In fact, Dominick’s mother said the bully’s family took no responsibility for the boy’s actions.
Dominick’s mom, Maria Rua, explained that the bully’s family has laughed off the attack as a “joke,” claiming that the 8-year-old is completely innocent. However, Rua says that, while detectives were on the scene, the family’s children were striking up lighters in the windows of the next-door apartment as if to mock her son’s condition.
Rua wrote that “the mother of this child refuses to admit her child did something wrong to my baby, who could have burnt to death if he didn’t know how to stop drop and roll. I just ask for all the prayers for my Dominick right now to help ease his pain no child deserves this and the fact that this family is taking it as a joke n lighting lighters in the window as investigators are at our house is sickening.”
Sadly, Deegan added that this isn’t the first time that the 8-year-old has assaulted her little brother.
“Two months ago under the bully’s mother’s supervision, he was pushed into a wall and fell to the floor. And again, the mother refuses to admit her kid did it,” said Deegan. “It’s heartbreaking, it’s sickening to know the family. There’s nothing being done about this.”
Deegan opened a Go Fund Me account to help raise money for her brother’s medical expenses as well as funds that might allow them to move away from the bully and his family. In less than 10 days, donations poured in, reaching more than $570,000 in an effort to get justice for Dominick Krankall.
Dominick has since made a miraculous recovery. After undergoing treatment, he was released from the hospital. However, he is still scared to live in his home, fearing that his bully will succeed in killing him.
The attack on Dominick Krankall is disturbing not only for the fact that he is so young to have suffered so immensely but also because his bully is so young as well. It’s abnormal and deeply disturbing that a child could possibly commit such a heinous act.
Fortunately, Dominick received the support of thousands across the nation, and his family was reportedly looking to immediately move, thanks to the donations that poured in. Still, they’re hoping Dominick’s story will inspire a more serious discussion on bullying and the dangerous impact it has on its victims.
