GRAY, Louisiana — A 15-year-old girl who suffered sexual abuse, was set on fire and shot twice was being driven through Texas when a car crash occurred that may have saved her life.
The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said that the unnamed victim was found in the crashed vehicle along with her mother, the mother’s boyfriend and another young child. The teen was said to have been badly burned and suffering from a couple of gunshot wounds to the face and chest in what one investigator with the Baytown, Texas police department described as “the worst she’s seen in her entire career.”
Terrence Washington, 41, and the child’s mother were arrested and face counts of attempted first-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and a host of other counts dealing with sexual abuse of a minor and battery to a child.
The arraignment is set for June 24.
"I feel confident we'll get convictions and put these terrible people in jail for a long, long time," said Joe Waits, the district attorney for the area. "Just looking at the photos, it will turn your stomach."
The horrific crimes were unearthed after a car crash on April 20 in Baytown, Texas. The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office learned a day later that the teen victim, who was still clinging to life, had suffered severe injuries, allegedly at the hands of her mother and the mother’s boyfriend.
"She's an incredible young lady to deal with what she's dealt with and to be able to tell our sheriff's deputies about it," said Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet. Officials said the victim is still in the hospital in Texas and he said she is stable.
The Baytown Police said they responded to the crash on an I-10 Service Road and found the vehicle occupied by Washington, the teen’s mother, the teen victim and another child. The victim and her mother were taken to the hospital as the mother had been injured in the crash.
Once at the hospital, staff discovered the nature of the teen’s injuries. The Baytown Police said that in an interview with Washington, he admitted to shooting the victim in the house and for having sexually abused her for several months. He also admitted to knowing about the burns that apparently came when her mother confronted and blamed the teen for the sexual incidents with Washington.
Detectives with SVU said they talked to the other child who was in the car crash and who was at the home during the crimes. The Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said that the child recalled waking up to the sight of the teen’s body on fire and the mother standing over her with a lighter and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.
The teen’s injuries were apparently treated at home. The victim’s mother was arrested upon her release from the hospital.
“This is the type of case that is not only difficult to deal with the circumstances, but hard to imagine the level of violence and evil that can occur at the hands of a human being,” said Tim Soignet.
Washington remains in a Harris County Detention Center but will be brought to Terrebonne Parish to face charges. The mother is in the Terrebonne Parish Criminal Justice Complex and is being held on a $1 million bond.