Ashanti Downey | Source: GoFundMe
The Harnett County Sheriff’s Office in Lillington, North Carolina, is searching for three suspects responsible for setting 20-year-old Ashanti Downey on fire earlier this month.
In a media release posted on Monday, Harnett County Sheriff, Wayne Coats, said the office received a call from Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford, North Carolina, on Dec.16, at around 5:55 p.m. reporting a burn victim. Deputies and investigators discovered that Downey had been admitted to the emergency room with second- and third-degree burns on the right side of her body. She was later transferred to a burn center, where she remains in critical but stable condition.
According to Coats, Downey was walking near NC 27 West and Barbecue Church Road when three unidentified individuals poured gasoline on her and set her on fire using a cigarette. No witnesses have been found, and authorities have not received any public information about the incident.
Donecia Davis, Downey’s mother, shared more chilling details about the incident during an interview with WRAL News. Davis said her daughter told the police that she was walking along Highway 27, heading toward the Dollar General store in Sanford, when she was approached from behind by a group of individuals, who “poured a flammable liquid on her, and set her on fire.” Shocked, furious and saddened by the incident, Davis is still trying to wrap her head around the suspects’ motive.
“How could they do this to my baby?” Davis said. “You didn’t have to do this to her.”
Coats is deeply shocked by the tragic crime, describing it as a “nightmare” and one of the most horrific cases his department has ever had to handle.
“It could have been a domestic related,” he added to WRAL News. “It could have been a gang initiation. We’re mystified by what’s happened.”
Davis has created a GoFundMe campaign to assist with Downey’s hospital bills and ongoing surgeries. She shared that her daughter will require continuous medical care to treat the third-degree burns covering 70% of her body.
“My daughter will be celebrating her 21st birthday on January 1, 2025, and due to the hatred of an individual or individuals, her life will be forever changed,” Davis penned on the campaign website. “No parent should have to see their child in the condition my daughter is in. I am making her my top priority and have been by her side at the hospital since this incident occurred.”
Davis has submitted FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) and will be without pay from her job “for the next 12 weeks” to help assist with Downey’s recovery. Consider donating to the family’s campaign here.
Additionally, anyone with information on the suspects connecting to Downey’s attack, are encouraged to reach out to Detective Ronald Beasley at 910-893-0151, the Harnett County Sheriff’s Office at 910-893-9111, or the Tip Line at 910-893-0300. Tips can also be submitted online at P3Tips.com.
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