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A Teenage Girl Was Filmed Being Set on Fire at a House Party in Manitoba

Three guys used spray deodorant and a lighter on the 16-year-old as she slept.
Photo via Wikimedia

In the summer of 2015, three people were charged after a 16-year-old girl was set on fire at a house party in a small town north of Winnipeg. Now 18, the victim of this incident, Erika Young, has come forward to tell the story of a night that changed her life.

"I needed to go to bed and the owner [of the house] took me upstairs to sleep. After that, I don't remember anything," Young told CBC News.

Young had seen her ex, 19-year-old Austin Fourre, at the party that night on June 21, 2015. According to court records, he had heard that she was seen making out with another guy. When she fell asleep, he phoned two of his friends—one who was Young's new boyfriend, age 15, and another who was 17 years old—to meet him.

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While Young was asleep at the party in The Pas, Manitoba, Young's ex and his two friends called her names and set her on fire: They used deodorant spray on her jeans—including her groin and butt—as accelerant. Another guy who was in the room put out the flames that had erupted on Young and left the room to have a cigarette after telling the others to leave her alone; she did not wake up at the time, according court records.

"The three then worked each other up again and laughed about the initial fire," court transcripts stated.

Following the first fire, a cellphone was used to record as Fourre used the can of deodorant spray and a lighter as a blowtorch on Young. It's not clear if the video was ever posted to social media or sent to others. She woke up immediately this time. According to court records, the guy who'd put out the fire before and had gone out for a cigarette returned at this point and again tried to help put out the flames on Young.

She suffered second- and third-degree burns to her genital area, spent three weeks in the hospital, and went through three surgeries and skin grafting.

"It was pretty heartbreaking," Young told CBC. "While I was in the hospital it was hard. I was really emotional, and it was devastating."

Fourre was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of aggravated assault in 2016 for his role in the incident. His two other friends he called to the party that night were also charged with aggravated assault.

Young is now in her last year of high school and plans on attending university next year.

"Life goes on, I guess. I just didn't want to stay mad forever. I didn't want to hold onto the past, I guess." Young said. "I think that when things happen, good or bad, you learn from it. You're either happy or you're sad, and I chose not to be sad after my healing process."

Follow Allison Tierney on Twitter.