KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Search for Evacuee Suspect

Port Barre, Louisiana  police are looking for a 15-year-old Hurricane Rita evacuee from Lake Charles who may have fled to Kansas after allegedly setting fire to a 7-year-old boy.

Port Barre Police Chief David Richard said the teenager was staying with relatives in Port Barre and has been charged with attempted first-degree murder.

"He doused the kid with gasoline," Richard said. "The child has third-degree burns on 50 percent of his body."

Frankie Levier is expected to make a full recovery, but his mother, Venessa Levier, said he will have to have skin grafts over a large portion of his body. He can feel his toes but still can't walk, she said.

"I figure once they do the skin grafts, he's going to have to have counseling, because he wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. He can't forget it," Venessa Levier said.

Venessa Levier said the family endures a daily two-hour ritual of removing and replacing gauze bandages on Frankie's body.

"It's healing," she said, "but every now and then he hollers and screams because he can feel the pain. He keeps hollering,

'Momma, why they burned me? Why they burned me?"' Richard said the incident began as an accident investigation, but new information indicates the child was set on fire purposely.

Police said they believe the 15-year-old boy was burning trash when Frankie Levier walked up. Richard said the teenager allegedly poured gasoline on the child, then threw gasoline on the fire.

"The fire trailed from the trash to the child," Richard said. But Richard said it was no accident, and the teenager knew exactly what he was doing.

"He told the child, 'I'm going to set fire to you.' The intent was there. That is why I'm charging him with attempted first-degree murder," Richard said.

Richard went to Lake Charles Tuesday to look for the 15-year-old, only to learn he already had fled to Wichita, Kan.

"As soon as we find out more details, one of two things is going to happen - he is either going to turn himself in, or my unit is headed to Wichita," Richard said.