Horror in New York: neighbor burned for $100 dollar debt “he had already paid it”

Steven Wilks, a 73-year-old man with mental illness, was burned by a violent neighbor to whom he owed $100, a debt he had already paid, according to his sister.

The dramatic incident happened on Sunday in a building in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn (NYC) and since then Wilks remains in the burn unit at Staten Island University Hospital. The next day police arrested his neighbor Denise Wylie, 62, who allegedly doused him with gasoline and set him on fire.

Wilks was so scared after being set on fire that he did not seek help immediately, but rather hid in his bed, according to statements from his sister, Patricia Davis (69), to the DailyNews.

“He owed her $100 and then she had it turned into $500 (in) interest,” Davis said of the suspect. She claims that she and a social worker who supervises her brother witnessed him paying off the original debt in October and signed a document, but the neighbor again asked for more, insisting that she owed him $500 instead. $100.

Wilks is a former city corrections officer who suffers from an unspecified mental illness, making him an easy target, his sister said.

According to the NYPD, on Sunday, January 28, Wylie went down from his 6th floor apartment to Wilks’s 2nd floor apartment and once again demanded money. He apparently told her that she didn’t have it but that she would pay him the next day and in response the neighbor allegedly poured gasoline on her face and back and lit a match.

“He fell to the ground and turned his body to put out the fire, but he has some very serious injuries… I didn’t get a call until later,” Davis says. “When they found him he was under the covers. She went to bed after the incident. I guess he panicked and didn’t think to call security.”

Wilks suffered second- and third-degree burns and underwent surgery on his arm Wednesday, his sister said.

Wylie was charged with attempted murder. Following an arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court she was held on $500,000 bail. All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Domestic violence is common in New York City and surrounding areas, between relatives, roommates and partners, even with minor victims. Every day in NYC, an average of 747 incidents of domestic violence are reported, including assaults, abuse, verbal abuse, and about 65 homicides annually.

Some cases of domestic violence are linked to household expenses. In mid-January, a man fatally stabbed his 74-year-old uncle in the chest during a heated confrontation in a Harlem apartment because he apparently wouldn’t help with rent or cleaning.

Also that month, a Hispanic mother killed her daughters and her husband and then took her own life inside her home in Union (NJ) after receiving an eviction order. Additionally, a New Jersey man and his accomplice detonated a homemade explosive in front of his business rival’s home in New York’s Westchester County, according to police.

In December, a landlord was charged with attempted murder and arson for allegedly setting fire to his Brooklyn rental property while a family of eight tenants, six of them children, were inside.

In a similar case, with a tragic ending, earlier that month a Hispanic woman was beaten to death by a teenage tenant in a fight over rent in Queens (NYC). In November, three bodies were found stabbed in a home in Queens, after a landlord showed up at a police station to confess to the crimes in an alleged dispute over late payment of rent.

Days later, an MTA employee and military veteran was arrested for shooting and killing his tenant when he found him masked inside his apartment in Brooklyn (NYC). The suspect did not have a license to carry weapons.

To report a case of housing discrimination or ask questions about this issue, you can visit this page of the NYC Public Defender’s Office.

If you are a victim or suspect that someone is being abused, especially if it is a minor or elderly:

I looked for help

• Call 911, 988 or (800)-942-6906.
• Text “WELL” to 65173.
• Review information at https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/es/ and www.988lineadevida.org