Mom of Gay Son Attacked in His Sleep Has a Warning for Parents

Kim Foster, the mother of a gay man attacked with boiling water while he was sleeping by her boyfriend, is speaking out about the attack for the first time. In an interview with Atlanta TV station WSB, Foster claims that she had no idea her boyfriend could commit such a horrific act.

Last week, news broke that on February 12, Anthony Gooden, 23, and Marquez Tolbert, 21, an Atlanta gay couple, received serious injuries after having boiling water thrown on them, while taking a nap in an apartment shared by Gooden and his mother, Kim Foster. Foster's boyfriend, Martin Blackwell, 48, discovered the two resting and decided to teach them a lesson.

"They was stuck together like two hot dogs, so I poured a little hot water on them and helped them out," Blackwell told authorities, as The Advocatepreviously reported.

The two had been together for three years and had met each other's families. "When I got there and saw my child ... I wanted to die," Foster said. Of Blackwell, she added, "He's not human. He got hatred in his heart and God's gonna deal with him."

"I don't know how somebody could be so hateful," she continued. "You could be with somebody for a period of long time and never know who they are. ... I just don't see how a human being can do something like that to another person."

The evening before the incident, however, Foster said that she and Blackwell did have a conversation about her son's relationship, after Blackwell asked how she could allow such behavior under her own roof. "That's not your house," she responded. "You need to mind your business."

Gooden also spoke to WSB, and he shook as he recalled the pain he and his loved ones have suffered. "It still hurt my family," Gooden said, his voice breaking. "It still hurt me."

After receiving a number of skin grafts, Gooden is now out of the hospital. His face, however, is severely scarred. "I hate looking in the mirror," he said. "But it's healing. It's healing every day now. Sometimes when I think about [what happened], I get angry. But I also know how to pray and ask God to release that anger and bring me happiness."

Foster added that since the incident, she's become fearful and distrustful of others. "I'm telling parents out there in the streets, 'You never know who [is] around your kids,'" she said. "Be careful because something like this could happen to your child."

Blackwell is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail without bond while he awaits legal representation. The LGBT liaison for the Atlanta Police Department took steps to ensure that Blackwell did not make bond, the police told WSB.

Blackwell is charged with two counts of aggravated battery, but there is no hate-crime enhancement, as Georgia does not recognize antigay hate crimes in its statutes. Only 17 states in the U.S. have hate-crimes laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity. However, if the federal government becomes involved, Blackwell could be prosecuted under federal hate-crimes law.

Watch the full video below.