‘Changed our lives forever’: Victims detail horror after Saskatoon teen was doused in gasoline, set on fire at school

People traumatized after a student lit another teen on fire spoke about the devastating impact of the attack during a sentencing hearing.

Saskatoon teachers, students and family members described the horrifying moment a Saskatoon teen was set on fire at school — and the trauma that followed.

On Sept. 5, 2024, at Evan Hardy Collegiate, a 14-year-old girl doused her classmate in gasoline and lit her on fire.

The girl, who is 16 now, pleaded guilty to attempted murder.

Emotional victim impact statements were read during the teen’s sentencing hearing on Thursday at Court of King’s Bench. The statements described how the attack continues to haunt their lives.

“It will forever be etched in my mind,” said teaching assistant Stephanie Blunt, who was in the hallway with the victim, who rolled on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

After speaking, Blunt was hugged by the victim’s mother — who also works as an educational assistant.

The attack

According to an agreed statement of facts read, the arson attack happened around lunchtime as the then 15-year-old victim was leaving her classroom.

The offender poured gasoline from a black metal bottle over her classmate’s head and lit her on fire using a lighter.

Blunt initially believed the liquid was water. Within seconds, flames engulfed the teen.

Staff and students — including the victim’s brother — saw the fire but didn’t realize a person was burning.

Smoke filled the hallway as the fire alarm sounded and students screamed.

Staff rushed in to help. Teacher Sean Hayes removed his own clothing to try to smother the fire. He suffered burn injuries in the process.

Teachers recalled hearing the victim scream, “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”

In an interview with police, the victim said she had accepted she was going to die.

She was airlifted to a burn unit in Edmonton. At one point, 80 per cent of her body was covered in bandages.

‘The voices told me to do it’

After the attack, the offender was taken to a separate room in the school.

According to the agreed facts, she was swaying back and forth and repeated twice: “The voices told me to do it.”

A teacher later recalled hearing her utter, “She deserved it,” as police arrested her.

In a police interview, the teen said she planned the attack. She brought the gasoline and lighter to school the day before.

She told officers she felt happy the voices had stopped. She also expressed curiosity about the extent of her classmate’s injuries.

Harassment before the attack

Court heard the two girls became friends at the start of Grade 9, bonding over their shared love of Metallica.

“At some point [she] became obsessed,” Crown prosecutor Zach Huywan said, reading the agreed facts.

During the summer, the offender repeatedly contacted the victim, and her best friend, using multiple phone numbers and social media accounts. At one point, suggesting self-harm over text message.

Court heard the offender had taken photos of the victim and her best friend without consent and created a video featuring the photos, set to a song titled “Imma Kill U.”

“The lyrics to that song are troubling,” Huywan said.

Investigators later found videos of fires being set in fields on the offender’s phone.

The victim’s parents reported concerns to police and were told a school safety plan would be implemented for the new school year.

“We hoped [the accused] would be supervised and that she’d be harmless because we did everything we thought we could to keep our daughter safe,” the victim’s mother said.

“The brutal attack changed our lives forever.”

‘I’m still alive’

Her parents detailed the pain their daughter suffered.

“We are still haunted by her screams as her dressings were being changed,” her mom said.

“Forty per cent of her skin needed to be peeled off because it was burned. Doctors had to take healthy skin to graft her onto her damaged areas.”

The teen has spent her Grade 10 year undergoing surgeries.

She continues to require further operations and procedures, including rebuilding her ear and working to regain dexterity in her right hand.

The final impact statement came from the victim, read aloud by her mother: “I’m still alive. I’m left-handed now.”

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