The relatives of a South Florida man seriously burned from being set on fire on Christmas night say they have two prayers on their hearts.
One prayer is for the recovery of 44-year-old Darrell Brackett, who suffered burns across almost his entire body, his family said. Friday, Brackett was scheduled to undergo trachea surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where he remains listed in critical condition, relatives said.
The other prayer is that police find whoever was responsible for the fiery attack.
“Hopefully, someone will be able to give us some information that will lead to the arrest of whoever is responsible for this,” pastor Raton Remikie said Thursday, as he and others took to the streets to distribute fliers.
Volunteers spent much of Thursday trying to retrace Brackett's steps before he was set on fire Tuesday night. His family said he suffered burns across almost his entire body, from his knees up to his head.
At the hospital, Brackett asked, “Why would someone do this to me?” his family said. He faces years of skin graft surgery to recover, his family said.
His mother, Bridgett Brackett, said she struggles to stay strong.
“I just visualize him lying there, burning, on fire,” she said.
On Christmas night, the family said, Darrell Brackett and his girlfriend were on their way home, driving along Northwest 27th Avenue, when his van stalled around Northwest 50th Street in Brownsville.
Brackett went out on foot towards a U Gas station at Northwest 47th Street and Northwest 27th Avenue. His mother said he got $3 in gas -- and that a group of men turned that fuel into a weapon against her son.
“Three men were involved -- attacked him at this gas station and they ran across the street, and this is where they doused him with the gas,” she said.
