A St. Paul man admitted in court Friday that he sprayed his girlfriend’s 19-year-old son with lighter fluid and set him on fire as he slept.
Curtis Edwin Reed, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault. The plea agreement, made in front of Ramsey County District Judge Rosanne Nathanson, calls for Reed to serve at least 12 years in prison.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 12.
Reed admitted there were aggravating factors in the July 20 incident; those added nearly five years to the agreed-upon sentence.
The victim, Antoine Willis, suffered second- and third-degree burns that will cause permanent disfigurement to his face, neck and hands, prosecutor Dawn Bakst said.
Reed admitted in questioning by Bakst that he was at the home he shared with his girlfriend, Jodi Stewart, and her son in the 1300 block of Ames Avenue in St. Paul.
It was about 7 a.m. Other children were in the home at the time. Willis was asleep on the couch.
Reed said he got some charcoal lighter fluid from the kitchen. He already had a lighter in his pocket.
“I poured it on him to burn his hair and just set it on fire,” Reed told the court.
He was angry about “being jumped on” earlier by Willis during a physical argument with Stewart, he said.
Reed denied that he had warned Willis earlier that morning that he “better not fall asleep,” as other witnesses reported.
The fire awoke Willis, who then ran into the kitchen, Reed said.
Reed thought Willis was going to stick his hair under the faucet to douse the flames, but instead Willis ran out the side door of the house.
Reed saw Willis running down the street while “the (burning) hair increased the flames,” he said.
He denied that he sprayed more lighter fluid in the house and chased Willis, as witnesses told police he had done.
While being treated at Regions Hospital, Willis told reporters, “I thought I was going to die because I’ve never been burnt alive.”
While there was little discussion at Friday’s hearing of what preceded the attack, Willis, Stewart and other witnesses told police that Reed and Stewart were arguing about 1 a.m. July 20.
Stewart told police that the argument turned physical and that Willis intervened to protect his mother.
Reed said Friday that he held the lighter-fluid bottle in front of him after he set fire to Willis “to make sure he didn’t attack me anymore.”
Reed was convicted in 2008 of two misdemeanors: fifth-degree assault and violation of a domestic abuse no- contact order, both involving Stewart.
Jodi Stewart and her brother, Jeffrey Stewart, were charged with stealing $2,500 in donations for Willis’ medical care; prosecutors accused them of spending the money on drugs and gambling, according to criminal complaints.
Jodi Stewart pleaded guilty and was sentenced to perform community service. The case involving Jeffrey Stewart is pending.
Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522.
