The trial of one of the teens charged in the Michael Brewer burning attack was delayed Monday after a judge ordered a psychological evaluation to determine his competency.
Matthew Aaron Bent, 17, is charged with second-degree attempted murder in the Oct. 12, 2009 attack at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex. He faces up to 30 years in prison.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday but the evaluation was ordered after a judge denied a motion to transfer Bent's case from adult to juvenile court.
He's due back in court on Thursday.
Outside court Monday, Brewer's family fumed about the delay and said Bent is more than competent to stand trial.
"He understood everything he did that day, everything," Brewer's grandmother, Reenie Brewer said.
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.
Bent's lawyer, Gordon Weekes, has said his client never told Jarvis to pour the alcohol on Brewer and was just a witness to the attack.
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 decided not to plead no contest and will take his chances in Broward court.
