The mother of one of the teens accused of second-degree attempted murder in last month's fiery attack against a 15-year-old Deerfield Beach boy said Tuesday that her son was not the monster being portrayed in the media and that she was sorry about what happened to the victim.

In an interview at the office of her son's attorney, Cheri Bent, the mother of 15-year-old Matthew Bent, told reporters that her son was an outgoing boy who did his chores, served as an altar boy at church and spent weekends playing basketball with his grandfather in Lauderhill. It was her first public statement since her son's arrest last month.

She declined to talk about the specific allegations against her son, but did say that she knew the victim, Michael Brewer, as a friend of her son. She was joined by the boy's grandfather and Bent's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Gordon Weekes.

She also did not discuss her husband's run-ins with the law during their 26-year marriage. Dennis Bent, who did not attend the interview with his wife, has a criminal history that includes arrests for drug possession, aggravated battery and burglary.

``We tried everything in our power to raise our children in the way they should be raised,'' said Bent, who said Matthew was the third youngest of the couple's seven children.

Broward sheriff's deputies paint a different portrait of Bent. They said that he led the Oct. 12 attack against Michael Brewer outside a Deerfield Beach apartment complex by ordering two other teens to douse the victim with alcohol and to set him on fire.

Bent and two other teens -- Denver Jarvis and Mendez -- are being tried as adults in the attack against Brewer.

All three of the suspects were classmates of Brewer at Deerfield Beach Middle School.

Cheri Bent said she is praying for Michael Brewer and his family.

``I would like the Brewer family to know we are deeply sorry for what has happened to their son,'' said Cheri Bent. ``We are praying that Michael Brewer has a good recovery.''

Brewer remains in critical condition at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Burn Center, where he is expected to spend months recovering from burns that covered 65 percent of his body.

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