An 18-year-old Texas man with autism faces permanent blindness after a so-called friend allegedly threw powdered drain cleaner in his eyes.
Branden Jolly, 17, had his first date with a judge on Friday, where his bond was set at $300,000.
Brody Morgan, who has autism, was walking through his neighborhood in Friendswood when Jolly dropped what turned out to be a drain plunger.
Morgan’s mother, Amy, said her son came home screaming, initially believing it was just salt in the boy’s eyes.
However, when he tried to wash his eyes with water, the situation only got worse: Amy Morgan claimed that it looked as if her son had two black eyes.
Brody Morgan (pictured), who has autism, was walking through his neighborhood in Friendswood when Branden Jolly threw what turned out to be a drain unblocker.
“They looked like they were bruised, black,” he said. ABC 13.
Brody Morgan alleges that one of the teens had stolen a package from the house down the street.
Jolly chose to open the stolen box, which contained a tube with a powder that the children did not recognize.
According to court documents, Jolly initially poured the chemicals on Brody Morgan’s shirt.
Brody attempted to push Jolly away from him, which police say led Jolly to throw the powder in his face.
Doctors were eventually able to determine that Jolly had thrown powdered drain cleaner on Morgan.
“We went to the emergency room and they immediately realized it wasn’t salt, and they kept trying to get me what it was, and I had no idea,” Amy Morgan said.
Jolly has been charged with causing injury to a person disabled due to Morgan’s autism. However, he escaped house arrest after prosecutors demanded that he be added to his bail.
Branden Jolly, 17, had his first date with a judge on Friday, where his bond was set at $300,000.
Doctors were eventually able to determine that Jolly had thrown powdered drain cleaner on Morgan.
The family of the alleged attacker has stated that all of this is an accident and that all the boys involved had something to do with it.
Jolly’s mother claims that Brody Morgan “attacked” her son and then the substance fell from Jolly’s hand and landed on Morgan.
The family also issued a statement sympathizing with Morgan but maintaining Branden’s innocence.
‘Our family is very distressed by the details of this case, for both of our families. “I am very saddened by the entire event and my heart goes out to Brody and his family,” her mother wrote.
“I believe this incident was NOT an act of malicious intent on the part of my son to harm his friend, but rather an accident resulting from decisions made by all parties involved.”
However, the third teenager involved in the incident, who has not been identified, told police that Jolly intentionally threw the substance.
Amy Morgan said Khou that the other two children knew their son had autism and should have known better, even dragging them into the house to spray him with the chemicals.
“He was saying, ‘You shouldn’t do that.’ That’s bad.’ Something like that… and I think that irritated them a little bit. “These kids knew Brody had autism,” Morgan said.
Jolly has been charged with causing injury to a disabled person. However, he escaped house arrest after prosecutors demanded that he be added to his bail.
Brody Morgan’s parents say he has been moved to a burn unit and could lose his vision permanently.
However, he added that he doesn’t want Jolly’s life to be completely ruined by this.
“I feel like he should get some punishment. I don’t know what that’s going to be like because I don’t want him to go to jail for the rest of his life,” Morgan said.
Court documents also say the packaging was clearly labeled to show it was drain cleaner.
Brody Morgan’s parents say he has been transferred to a burn unit and could lose his vision permanently.