RIVERVIEW (WWJ) -- A Wayne County store clerk is facing up to life in prison after setting a teenager on fire.
The Riverview Police Department received a phone call from the victim’s mother on Thursday, June 2, who stated she was with her son in the emergency room at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital.
According to the victim’s mother, her son was at Victor's Market, located at 17104 Quarry Road, during his lunch break at Riverview Community High School, between 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m.
The mother told a Riverview dispatcher that her son was being sedated in the emergency room and was being prepared for transport to Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit for treatment for severe burns.
According to witnesses, lighter fluid was apparently leaking from the victim's backpack. In an attempt to verify if the fluid was flammable, the store clerk, Mazin Nowail Shaya, allegedly ignited a lighter close to the victim, setting him on fire.
According to the News-Herald, on June 7, Riverview detectives executed an arrest warrant in Sterling Heights, where Shaya was arrested without incident.
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The Wayne County Prosecutor's office charged the 55-year-old with assault with intent to commit murder, which is a felony punishable by imprisonment for life -- or any term of years.
He also is charged with intent to do great bodily harm, less than murder, which is a felony punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.
He's currently held in jail on a $1 million bond. If he posts bond, he must be held under house arrest, surrender his passport and wear a GPS tether.
Shaya’s probable cause conference is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 16.
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