Divorced Dad Sets Himself On Fire Angry Because Of Child Support, He Douses Himself With Gasoline

In an angry moment during his divorce last month, Jeffrey Schooley told family and friends he would rather die than pay child support to the mother of his 8-year-old son.

Schooley’s anger turned deadly early Thursday when he doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire on the front lawn of his Camellia Drive home several hours after learning that his divorce was final and that he would owe $660.53 a month in child support.

The 41-year-old’s parents, who live in suburban Riviera Beach, rushed to his home after receiving a distraught call from their son around midnight. They arrived about 12:30 a.m. just as their son ignited the blaze.

Both parents beat at the flames before a neighbor toting jugs of water was able to put out the fire. Betty Schooley, 67, was treated for minor burns at Palms West Hospital.

But her son and husband, Russell Schooley, 69, were flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s burn unit in Miami. Jeffrey Schooley died there about 8 a.m. Russell Schooley was in critical condition late Thursday with second- and third-degree burns to more than half of his body.

Jeffrey Schooley was excited when he got the notice in the mail Wednesday saying his divorce from Linda Marie Marshall was final, Schooley’s girlfriend said. But as he read further down the page, he discovered he would owe child support for his son and $24,666 to Marshall’s attorney, Chris Copeland.

During most of the couple’s 10-year marriage, Schooley had been a respiratory therapist, but he had not worked steadily since January 1996, when he resigned from Bayer Restorative Care Inc.

“He had to pay child support, and he didn’t have a job,” said Schooley’s girlfriend, Evelyn Garcia, who said she’s two months pregnant with their child. “He said, ‘I can’t live like this. I don’t have a job. How can I support my son?’ It was too much for him.”