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Mother Of 2 Children Burned By Fireworks Seeks Justice

News Channel 8 photo by MAURICE CAPOBIANCO

Catarina Felix holds her daughter Mariah, 2, as her son Juan Coley, 1, lies nearby at Tampa General Hospital after the children were burned by fireworks thrown into their car.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 9, 2008

TAMPA - One minute Catarina Felix was at a stop sign in Fort Myers on July 4.

Seconds later, the back seat of her car was filled with smoke, fire and screams from her two toddlers.

Someone in a group of young adults and teens on the sidewalk had tossed what Felix thinks was a lit Roman candle through the open rear window of her Toyota Camry.

It landed in the lap of her 1-year-old son, Juan Coley, who was closest to the open window. His legs were on fire when Felix pulled him from the flaming back seat. His Pampers had exploded from the detonation.

"I could hear my kids screaming. They were burning," Felix said from their hospital room. "Smoke was coming off my baby's legs."

Today, Juan and his sister, Mariah Felix, who will be 3 in September, remained in Tampa General Hospital's Children's Medical Center facing skin grafts and an uncertain release date. Each had one operation Tuesday.

They may face more.

Mariah has second-degree burns, mostly to her hand. Juan has second and third-degree burns to his legs.

Felix has spent nearly every minute in the hospital room with her children since they were transferred to Tampa General from Lee Memorial Hospital. She has not returned to Fort Myers.

There's a question she can't get out of her mind as she holds Mariah in her lap. Juan is hurt too badly for such comforting.

"Why have they done this to my kids?" she said.

Juan's left leg is swathed in bandages. The inside of his right leg shows burns from his instep up the entire thigh. The toddlers are mostly lethargic, subdued by pain and medication.

"I have to look at them cry. It's hard to be sitting here with my kids." said Felix, 22. "They shouldn't be in the situation they're in right now."

Felix was heading to a convenience store to get milk and juice for her children sometime around 8:30 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. when the incident occurred. She had no warning.

She saw perhaps 10 or 15 people standing on the sidewalk about five feet from her car. But she didn't get a good enough look to provide descriptions to police.

Fort Myers police are investigating and have no suspects, though detectives have interviewed some witnesses who were in the area, said Maureen Buice, spokeswoman for the Fort Myers Police Department.

Police gathered some evidence at the scene that's being analyzed. That may answer what type of device was thrown through the window.

Investigators hope interviews with the witnesses will lead to an arrest or someone will come forward with information, Buice said.

Felix holds the same hope.

"I'd like them to step up and say why they did that to my kids. I'd like them to do some time for my kids," she said.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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