Woman burns stepson in "fire challenge" because she's terrible

This news is a few days old now, at least in one sense--the incident actually happened a year and a half ago and just came to light. And honestly, I kind of don't know where to start. I'm nearly speechless, but I do have a few very, very strong opinions, mostly about the kind of woman this is and what she deserves as a consequence.

You've probably heard by now, but a woman burned her stepson in a "fire challenge," although exactly what the hell kind of challenge this even is is a mystery. Personally, I think it's not so much a challenge as it is a woman finding any sadistic way she can to abuse a child, but hey.

Connie Kirby is charged with pouring rubbing alcohol on the back of the then-13-year-old boy and lighting it, causing burns to 16 percent of his body, police said in a criminal complaint. 

"Connie said, 'Tre, do you want to play a game?' And I said, 'No.' Then she was like, 'Come on, you little punk,'" Tre Kirby said. "She grabbed 100 percent alcohol. She put it on my butt and then lit it. I caught on fire."

Yeah, there's zero reason to do that other than to be an abusive piece of shit. Nothing about that is a game. Nothing about that is funny, unless you're a psychopath.

His sister extinguished the flames with a pitcher of Kool-Aid, making her the only person to actually do anything helpful or good in this situation.

The boy's dad wasn't home at the time and is being charged for failing to take the boy to a hospital, though he did want to--but Stepmommy Dearest here said, nope, she "knew how to do nursing." Which is probably code for, "Shit, no, the hospital's gonna ask questions about what the hell happened and then I'm fucked."

As for her nursing skills? Neosporin and medication. Now, I'm no nurse, but I'm pretty sure that's not adequate burn treatment. But again, that might not matter to someone who's probably more concerned about covering her own ass than she is helping a burned kid.

The boy's mom had partial custody at the time--which I'm guessing is about to change if it hasn't already--and found out recently, about a year and a half later, when she saw his scars.

Burkes said she will be taking her son to talk to a counselor about the incident. Burkes said Tre Kirby now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. 

"My dad didn't stand up for me," Tre Kirby said. "Sometimes when I think about it, it makes me sad. I'll be sad for a whole day. When I go to sleep, I'll have nightmares and stuff like that."

Absolutely good on her for getting her son counseling--this kid was the victim of a horribly abusive act, and I'm sure counseling can only help him. And I really, really feel for him. I've been in much, much less serious situations in which I was hurt by feeling like a loved one wasn't standing up for me or wasn't on my side, so to speak, and it hurts. I can't imagine how horribly amplified it must be here and how much worse that hurt must be.

All my love and good vibes to you, Tre. Seriously. I wish you nothing but the best.

But let's let Mama Bear get the final word here, shall we?

"I think it's sick, and I think they deserve to throw the book at you," Candra Burkes said.

PREACH, MAMA.