An "agender" teen who was burned on an AC Transit bus should be back home in Oakland on Wednesday, while the teen who allegedly set Sasha Fleischman's skirt on fire is hoping to be tried as a juvenile in court.
Sasha's father, Karl Fleischman, told NBC Bay Area on Tuesday that his son should be home from St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco by Wednesday -- just in time for a vegan Thanksgiving.
Sasha suffered second- and third-degree burns after the teen's skirt was set on fire Nov. 4 on bus No. 57. If Sasha feels up to it, the 18-year-old could be back to school at Maybeck High School in Berkeley by Monday, his dad said.
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"They're really champing at the bit to get out of the hospital as nice as the nurses and doctors have been," Fleischman said. "Sasha's been walking and learning how to wrap up the Ace bandage to give their legs support. (But) Sasha's ready for a change."
Sasha identifies as "agender," or non-binary gender, meaning that the teen doesn't identify as either a male or a female and prefers the plural pronoun "they" when being referred to.
Sasha hasn't really wanted to talk about the burns or what happened, the teen's father said. "It's not something Sasha's wanted to dwell on."
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The Fleischman family has been very forgiving about the Nov. 7 charges against Richard Thomas, a 16-year-old Oakland High School Student, charged as an adult with the fire and added hate-crime enhancement. An Oakland police officer wrote that Richard acknowledged he was "homophobic" in a report, a dispute his attorney vigorously denies. Thomas's attorney, William Du Bois, filed a motion in court on Tuesday seeking that his client be tried as a juvenile.
If it were up to the Fleischman family, who feel more forgiving of Richard, they would want him tried as a juvenile, too.
"I think we're of the opinion that a 16-year-old is still a juvenile and shouldn't be tried in adult court," Fleischman said. "I was a 16-year-old once and I know I wasn't fully formed. We've talked to Sasha about that too and Sasha has said to us that they don't feel a 16-year-old should be tried as an adult."
Photo Credit: NBC Bay Area