Steven Wilks, a 73-year-old man with mental illness, was burned by a violent neighbor to whom he owed $100, a debt he had already paid. according to his sister.
The dramatic incident happened on Sunday in a building in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn (NYC) and since then Wilks remains in the burn unit at Staten Island University Hospital. The next day Police arrested his neighbor Denise Wylie, 62, who allegedly doused him with gasoline and set him on fire.
Wilks was so scared after he was set on fire that He did not seek help immediately, but instead hid in his bed.according to statements by his sister, Patricia Davis (69) to Daily News.
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🔴EXCLUSIVE: Brooklyn man, 73, “passive” ex-C.O. with mental illness, was set on fire by neighbor over debt he paid back, sister says
Wilks, 73, is hospitalized after doused in gas, set aflame.
“He’s not violent. Very passive.” Woman wanted big interest.https://t.co/eStIsUCq9h
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) February 1, 2024
“He owed her $100 and then she turned it into $500.” (for) interest,” Davis said of the suspect. She claims that she and a social worker who supervises her brother witnessed in October that he He paid off the original debt and they signed a document, but the neighbor asked him again for more.insisting that he owed him $500 instead of $100.
Wilks es a former city corrections officer He suffers from an unspecified mental illness, making him an easy target, his sister said.
According to the NYPD, on Sunday, January 28 Wylie went down from his 6th floor apartment to Wilks’s apartment on the 2nd and once again demanded the money.. Apparently he told her that she didn’t have it but that she would pay him the next day and in response the neighbor allegedly He poured gasoline on his face and back and lit a match.
“He fell to the ground and He turned his body to put out the fire, but he has some very serious injuries… I didn’t get a call until later,” Davis says. “When they found him he was under the covers. She went to bed after the incident. I guess he panicked and didn’t think to call security.”
Wilks finished with second and third degree burns and had surgery on his arm Wednesday, his sister said.
Wylie was charged with attempted murder. After an arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court, he was placed on bail of $500,000. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
Domestic violence is common in New York City and surrounding areas, between relatives, roommates, and partners, even with minor victims. Every day in NYC, an average of about 747 incidents of domestic violence, including assaults, abuse, verbal abuse, and about 65 homicides annually.
Some cases of domestic violence are linked to household expenses. In mid-January a man fatally stabbed his 74-year-old uncle in the chest during a heated confrontation in a Harlem apartment because he apparently wouldn’t help with rent or cleaning.
Also that month, a Hispanic mother killed her daughters and her husband and then took her own life inside her home in Union (NJ) after receiving an eviction order. Additionally, a New Jersey man and his accomplice detonated a homemade explosive in front of his business rival’s home in New York’s Westchester County, according to police.
In December, a landlord was charged with attempted murder and arson for allegedly setting fire to his Brooklyn rental property while a family of eight tenants, six of them children, were inside.
In a similar case, with a tragic ending, earlier that month a Hispanic woman was beaten to death by a teenage tenant in a fight over rent in Queens (NYC). In November three bodies were found stabbed in a home in Queensafter a landlord showed up at a police station to confess to the crimes in a alleged dispute over late payment of rent.
Days later, an MTA employee and military veteran was arrested for shooting and killing his tenant when he found him masked inside his apartment in Brooklyn (NYC). The suspect did not have a license to carry weapons.
To report a case of housing discrimination or ask questions about this topic, you can visit this NYC Public Defender’s Office page.
If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:
I looked for help
2024-02-02 18:56:00
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