FRIENDSWOOD, Texas – A young adult with autism in Friendswood is recovering from chemical burns and could go blind after being doused with a substance by a former friend.
Branden Jolly, 17, is charged with felony injury to a disabled person for the chemical attack on May 20.
“He’s just really frustrated and he’s pretty angry about it,” the victim’s mother Amy Morgan told KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry.
Her son, Brody, was hanging out with two other friends in his neighborhood on Monday evening, when Friendswood Police said one of the boys stole a package from someone’s front porch.
After opening the package, Jolly allegedly threw the contents on Brody Morgan’s shirt before aiming the powder for his face and eyes, according to court records.
The two friends brought Brody Morgan back home and claimed the substance was salt, so his mother tried washing his eyes out with water and saline.
“It was clear nothing was going to do any good,” Amy Morgan said. “They knew right away that it was not salt.”
She took him to the hospital, where his eyes had a pH level of 12, records show. The typical level for eyes is 7.35, doctors told investigators, which meant his eyes were suffering chemical burns.
Investigators later learned the substance was actually a chemical like DRANO, used for clearing out clogged drains, according to records.
Brody Morgan spent about 24 hours total in the hospital, including some time at UTMB’s burn unit at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston.
He’s now recovering at home using drops and ointments with plans to return to doctors next week.
“He could have fine vision today and the surface of his corneas be fine, and then tomorrow they start to break down and him lose vision,” Amy Morgan said. “We just don’t know right now, so we’re just hoping.”
Amy Morgan added that it’s a hard lesson about vetting friends.
“Because he has autism, you know, we tried to vet his friends as best we could, but, you know, he was getting older, and we were trying to give him a little more freedom... When they get to be a certain age, there’s only so much you can do,” she said. “Not everyone is your friend, not everybody wants the best things for you.”
Records show Jolly has been released from jail on a $30,000 bond.