Bronx girl who had her face scalded by friend makes remarkable recovery

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

The 11-year-old Bronx girl who suffered terrible burns to her face when a friend poured boiling water on her, left the hospital looking almost good as new.

“I’m so great,” Jamoneisha “Jamoni” Merritt said to reporters.

Jamoni spent 11 days in the hospital and says, “Now I’m dancing and listening to music.”

Her road to recovery is not yet finished, however. She will likely miss the start of 7th grade and will have to be homeschooled.

“Her arm is still raw it hasn’t healed yet … [and she] can’t go outside in the sun,” said Ebony Merritt.

“It’s going to take maybe about six months for all her color to come back in.”

Jamoni was spending the night at a friend’s house on August 7 when the friend poured the hot water on her in a prank that went awry.

The prank was similar to the “Hot Water Challenge,” which is a YouTube inspired trend where kids pour boiling water on unsuspecting people.

— Girl who poured boiling water on friend tried to kill herself after ‘prank’ — 

Jamoni was hard to recognize after having burns to 85% of her face.

The friend, Aniya Grant Stuart, 12, has been taken into custody over the incident and the case is in the hands of Family Court due to the fact that she is a minor.

Stuart is said to have tried to commit suicide after the incident.

Jamoni says that she was warned by Aniya and two other girls that she would be pranked if she fell asleep.

“I didn’t know what they was gonna do but I felt tired,” Jamoni said. “So after I was dancing I just sat on the couch and I fell asleep.”

She was awoken to the feeling of her face on fire.

“I was screaming because it burned, it burned, it burned, it burned,” she said.

Aniya’s mother gave her ice and a cold shower and the girls gave a half-hearted apology and stated it was an accident, according to Jamoni.

“They were saying stop yelling and buggin,” Jamoni remembers.

Ebony Merritt says that all three girls and the mother should be arrested.

“The mother is just as involved as the other kids,” Ebony Merritt said. “This happened at 4 a.m. but they didn’t come to my house until 5:30. That means she was there for an hour and a half while they were trying to cover their tracks.”

 

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