Boy who watched teen set on fire apologizes

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A young teenager has issued an apology following the fiery attack on 15-year-old Michael Brewer.

Though 13-year-old Jeremy Jarvis is not one of the three teenagers charged with the crime, he felt compelled to say how sorry he felt for the attack on Brewer in Deerfield Beach on Oct. 12. "I want to express my deepest sympathy to Mikey and his family," he said reading from a statement he wrote. "I will pray for Mikey to grow stronger everyday and for Mikey's speedy recovery."

Police did originally arrest him along with four others for the attack, which left Brewer with second and third degree burns over two thirds of his body, but they have since focused their attention on three of those originally arrested. His brother, 15-year-old, Denver Colorado Jarvis remains in custody, along with Matthew Bent, also 15, and 16-year-old Jesus Mendez. "I want to tell my brother, DC, I love and miss him. I just hope and pray we all get through this," said Jarvis, as he read his paper.

Stephen Melnick, Jarvis' attorney, also stepped forward to say something. "Jeremy has been wanting to say something from the time that this happened," he said. "He's been wanting to say something. He just wanted to express his prayers to Mikey and the Brewer family and to tell his brother how much he misses him."

The three boys face adult charges of attempted murder for dousing Brewer with rubbing alcohol and setting him on fire. Brewer only uttered his first words since the attack a day before Jarvis' apology. He remains in the intensive care unit of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

Investigators said the teens attacked Brewer for turning one of them in for stealing his father's bicycle.

Prosecutors have until Jan. 11 to change their minds and charge Jeremy as an accomplice to the attack, but that appears increasingly unlikely as the deadline approaches.

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