Gas sprayed on NC woman, set on fire with cigarette

A young North Carolina woman was set on fire after a sick suspect doused her with gasoline, then ran away – leaving her heartbroken mother wondering, “How could they do this to my child?”

Ashanti Downey, 20, was taken to the emergency room on the night of December 16 with second- and third-degree burns on the right side of her body. According to WRAL News in Raleigh-Durham.

Staff at Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford called the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office around 7 p.m. to report the horrific act, which occurred as Downey was walking on Highway 27 toward a Dollar General in the same city.

Downey told investigators that then an unknown person came up behind him, threw gas on him and lit a cigarette, causing a fire.

She was later taken to a local burn center, where she was listed in critical but stable condition, with burns over about three-quarters of her body, according to the network and a GoFundMe set up by the family.

“How could they do this to my child?” Doneshia Davis, his distraught mother, told WRAL. “You shouldn’t have done that to him.”

In the online fundraiser — which had raised more than $20,000 as of Thursday — Davis wrote that her daughter would celebrate her 21st birthday on New Year’s Day.

Davis wrote, “His life will be forever changed because of his hatred of a person or persons.”

“No parent should have to see their child in the situation that my daughter is in,” she said. “I have been making him my top priority and have been with him in the hospital since this incident.”

In a Christmas Day update, Davis wrote that her daughter will soon undergo a third surgery.

He said the money raised will help the family offset the costs of those surgeries, as well as treatment and rehabilitation.

Harnett County Sheriff Wayne Coats said it was one of the most heinous crimes his department had ever seen.

“This is a nightmare for this family,” he said, adding that police are still looking for a motive.

“It could have been domestic-related,” he said. “It could have been the beginning of a gang. We are shocked by what happened.”

In the meantime, David is hoping someone will come forward.

“Tell me some truth,” he said. “You saw him.”

Authorities asked anyone with information to call Det. Ronald Beasley at 910-893-0151, the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office at 910-893-9111, the tip line at 910-893-0300, or submit a tip at P3Tips.com.