March 06, 2014
Thirteen years after the original crime, a Texas judge ruled Thursday that a man accused of burning another boy as a child could now be tried for murder as an adult following the boy’s death.
Texas man Don Willburn Collins was 13 years of age when he allegedly soaked eight-year-old Robert Middleton in gasoline on his birthday and set fire to the boy. He ended up in police custody after the attack – which left Middleton severely disfigured and with burns covering 99 percent of his body – but prosecutors eventually concluded there was not enough evidence to officially press charges.
As a result, Collins was released after spending a few months in juvenile detention.
Following Middleton’s death in 2011, however, authorities decided to reopen their investigation and pursue murder charges against Collins, now 28. Middleton died from a skin cancer believed to be related to the burns he suffered with throughout his life.
According to the Associated Press, Middleton delivered a videotaped deposition before he died, accusing Collins of sexual assault prior to the gasoline attack.
“Due to the victim’s embarrassment and shame, the sexual assault had not been known when this case was first investigated. We now think Middleton was set on fire to keep him quiet and prevent him from telling,” said Montgomery County Attorney J.D. Lambright to the Houston Chronicle last year.