INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Young Gay Atlanta Couple Burned By Scalding Water In Their Sleep Continue To Recover

By Angela Woods
Published on: 14:30 PST, Mar 18, 2016

A young gay Atlanta couple were recently attacked by the boyfriend of one of the men’s mothers. The attacker allegedly threw boiling water on them as they slept, and both men continue to recover from their wounds.

Anthony Gooden and Marquez Tolbert, 21, suffered second and third-degree burns on their neck, back, arms, face, and front of body. Tolbert spent 10 days at Grady Memorial Hospital as he underwent skin grafting with skin taken from his thigh to replace skin burned from his back. Gooden was in a coma for two weeks and just got out of the hospital one week ago. It is estimated that it will take two years for him to recover from his wounds.

Gooden’s mother, Kim Foster, says that she never saw signs that anything like this could happen. She and Martin Blackwell, 48, had been dating for three years and both knew each other’s families very well. Foster never thought that Blackwell could be capable of such an attack.

According to WSB-TV, Foster says that Blackwell began questioning her about her son’s relationship on the night before the incident, but she told him to stay out of it and did not think any more about it.

“I said, ‘That’s not your house. You need to mind your business.’ (And he said,) ‘Well, they laying up there.’ I said, ‘That is not your business. (Anthony) don’t bother you. That boy don’t bother you. This is not your house.'”

Anthony Gooden says that he had just come out to his family last year. He began dating Tolbert about six weeks ago and had finally started to become comfortable enough to bring him around his family. Gooden says that he now hates looking at himself in the mirror, but he’s healing more every day. He says when he thinks about what happened he still gets angry, but he knows how to pray and ask God to release his anger and bring him happiness.

The Inquisitr previously wrote that Blackwell has been arrested and is being held in the Fulton County Jail. He has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery, and the possibility exists that he may be charged with a federal hate crime. FBI spokesman Stephen Emmett commented that his agency is investigating under the civil rights statute to see whether or not the attack meets the classification of a hate crime under the law.

Gooden and Tolbert frequently slept at the home of Gooden’s mother after their 12-hour work shift ended at 7 a.m. because the warehouse at which they are employed is not far from his mother’s home.

Gooden was emotional as he told WSB-TV how he felt about Blackwell.

“I just want Martin to be gone. I want him to be gone and I want them to prosecute him to the full extent. It was the worst night of my life.”

He still does not understand why Blackwell did what he did. Blackwell, on the other hand, showed no remorse when questioned by the police.

“They’ll be alright. It was just a little bit of hot water on them.”

Gooden’s mother said that when she saw her son after the attack she wanted to die. She feels that Blackwell is not human and that he has hatred in his heart. She also feels that God is going to deal with him for what he has done. Foster added that she was shocked when she found out what happened.

Go Fund Me pages have been set up for both Tolbert and Gooden to assist with costs associated with their medical care and living expenses. For additional information, visit the links below.

Gooden’s Go Fund Me page can be found here.

Tolbert’s Go Fund Me page can be found here.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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