"I Kicked The Fire On Him"

An important update on a story I blogged about a few months ago.

Because I know you're just dying to know. (Added emphasis mine, because - well, you know. Some things just ought to be in bold.)

Steven Y. Bowles will serve three years in prison for lighting his friend on fire.


The victim, Robert L. Cashion, was sleeping in Bowles’ backyard after he and Bowles had gotten “out of their heads” on moonshine, according Bowles’ lawyer, Randy B. Rowlett.


Bowles, 28, was frustrated that he couldn’t wake the victim, “so I set [him] on fire,” Bowles told a sheriff’s deputy in March. “What was I supposed to do? He wouldn’t leave.”


Deputies were called to Bowles’ residence in March, located in the 2400 block of Pocahontas Road, on a report of shots fired.


According to testimony from Deputy Haislip of the Powhatan Sheriff’s Office, Bowles said he first tried cutting Cashion to wake him. When that failed, Bowles fired two shots into the ground near where the victim lay.


Finally, Bowles told the deputy, “I kicked the fire on him.”


The deputy said there was no evidence of a fire in the backyard.


“I can’t think of a more outrageous act,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Beasley. “He simply set the victim on fire because he couldn’t wake him up.”


“It was an accident,” Bowles said before being sentenced. “I don’t remember what happened that night.”


Judge James F. D’Alton sentenced Bowles on a charge of malicious wounding to 20 years in prison, but suspended 17 years of the sentence.


Bowles was earlier convicted of assault and battery and reckless handling of a firearm.


“I’m still stunned that this actually happened,” said Beasley. “It’s one of the most outrageous things I’ve ever seen.”


The victim continues to undergo skin graphs, Beasley said, and Rowlett admitted during argument that the injuries are “life altering.”

People. You gotta love 'em.