One of three teens charged in the Michael Brewer burning attack was due in Broward court Thursday afternoon where a judge is expected to rule on a change of venue and competency hearing.
Matthew Aaron Bent, 17, is charged with second-degree attempted murder in the Oct. 12, 2009 attack at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex. He will be tried as an adult and faces up to 30 years in prison.
Jury selection in his case was scheduled to begin Monday, but was delayed after a judge ordered a psychological evaluation to determine his competency. On Thursday Bent learned that his trial would move forward.
Bent's attorney, Gordon Weekes, was also seeking a change of venue for the trial due to the heavy coverage of the case in South Florida, which was denied by Judge Robinson.
Robinson said the trial would stay in Broward County, and that he would find the 8 people necessary for a fair trial.
Weekes has suggested jurors be chosen in Jacksonville and brought to Broward.
"Knowing what we are doing is always good for all of us, right?" said Brewer's grandmother Reenie Brewer. "Having an idea of what is going to happen next is always nice. Maybe a little less stress for all of us."
Prosecutors say Bent and a group of boys surrounded Brewer, their classmate, and set him on fire after an argument over a $40 video game that Brewer had reportedly agreed to buy from one of them.
Bent directed one of the other teens, Denver Jarvis, to pour rubbing alcohol on Brewer, before another classmate, Jesus Mendez, pulled out a lighter and sparked a blaze that set Brewer on fire, prosecutors said.
Brewer, 15 at the time of the attack, jumped into the apartment complex's pool to put out the flames. He was burned on over 60 percent of his body and spent months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.
Weekes has said his client never told Jarvis to pour the alcohol on Brewer and was just a witness to the attack. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Bent told investigators shortly after the attack that the teen suspects were motivated by a marijuana debt Brewer owed Mendez.
Brewer's grandmother denied the drug debt claim, and Mendez never discussed with authorities selling marijuana to Brewer.
Last month, Mendez, now 18, pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted second-degree murder and was sentenced to 11 years in prison, followed by 19 years of probation. Jarvis, 17, also pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 8 years in prison with a probation term of 22 years.
Bent rejected a plea deal to take his chances in court. His trial is set to begin at the end of May.
