Mississippi teen headed to prison after Internet prank leaves friend burned, disfigured

Published 6:37 am Tuesday, November 24, 2020

A Mississippi teenager will spend the next 10 years in prison after an internet “prank” burned, disfigured his friend’s face.

Jadarius Gillum, 18, of Laurel, Mississippi, was sentenced to 10 years in state prison last week after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault charges, the Laurel Leader-Call newspaper reported.

Prosecutors said in July 2019 Gillum planned to use a sleeping 13-year-old boy to create a video to post on the Internet. His plan was to make it a fire using alcohol on the person’s face in hopes of making a quick flash of flames, but no injuries.

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Instead the flames did not quickly dissipate and the victim, who was asleep at the time, woke up and tried to use a polyester shirt to extinguish the flames. Instead the shirt melted to his face causes serious burns.