They marched with signs that read "No justice, no peace," and "Justice for Emery."
Emery McCray claims that an older neighbor child doused him in lighter fluid and then set him on fire on Oct. 16 while the two were outside near his Alcolu home.
He and his mother, Leslie L. Brown, were joined Saturday at the Clarendon County Courthouse by more than 30 people, including family and leaders from the South Carolina chapter of the National Action Network in holding a Justice for Emery Rally.
"Emery needs justice," said Brown. "Emery needs peace. We don't know what really went on with my child. We need justice in this case. He will have to suffer for the rest of his life with the scars from these burns."
Emery spoke to the crowd, saying that a 13-year-old boy - minors names are not released by law enforcement - "put lighter fluid on my back and then set a match and put me on fire."
"He said he didn't do it, but he did do it," said Emery, who added that he utilized "stop, drop and roll" to put himself out.
The boy, 12 at the time, was charged with assault and battery. According to Brown, there is a court date Monday to handle the case.
"My understanding is that the Solicitor's Office has offered six months' house arrest in this case for the older boy that set this boy on fire," said Elder James Johnson, the president of the state chapter of the National Action Network. "We are not going to accept that. We are not going to sit back and let that stand. We want justice. We are not going to sit back and allow this crime to go unpunished."
Then-Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett told Manninglive.com shortly after the incident Oct. 21, 2016, that the fire appeared to be accidental. The 13-year-old boy was charged Nov. 18, a month and two days after the incident.
“How could this be an accident?” said Johnson. “A flammable liquid was poured on his back, and this child was set afire. An accident is where you stumble and fall into a fire. This is a crime, a hideous crime.”
Johnson criticized the former sheriff, saying that Brown and her family have been "intimidated into silence."
"I am asking the governor of this state to come down and look into this heinous crime and see why this was covered up," Johnson said. "I want him to look into how this was allowed to happen in 2017. This is the kind of thing that happened in slavery days and in the 1930s and 1940s, not in 2017."
Johnson said he believes the case would have been handled differently had the roles been switched.
"If this boy's face was white, and the perpetrator was black, the mother would still be in jail and this child would still be in detention," said Johnson. "We are not going to allow this anymore in the state of South Carolina. We have nine chapters around the state. Those chapters are united. We are connecting the dots all around South Carolina so we can have support."
Bishop Henry Young, president of the Williamsburg County chapter of the National Action Network, said his chapter is behind Brown and her family 100 percent.
"We have to fight. We have to tell these people that we aren't going to allow them to do somthing to a child like this," he said. "We have to tell them that there will be no more injustice."
Sumter activist Calvin Bennett criticized local leaders for what he said was a failure to show up in support of a hurting family.
"We're talking about a child," he said. "Everyone should be here today. You need to make phone calls to them when you leave here. You need to ask them, 'Why weren't you there?' I'm talking about political leaders, religious leaders, civic leaders and any leadership. They need to be here today."
Robert McFadden, who is planning on starting a Clarendon chapter of the National Action Network, also criticized local leaders.
"This is a hideous crime," he said. "This child's rights were violated. And this was hidden during an election time and everyone involved in this coverup should be investigated. We are not going to quit. They need to know we are not going to quit."
Johnson said the group will continue to hold rallies, with the next one planned for noon April 1 at the Clarendon County Courthouse.
"We are not going away," he said. "If we have to go all the way to Washington, D.C., we will have justice for Emery."
