Men in hoodies set woman on fire

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WINNSBORO, La., Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A young Louisiana woman was hospitalized in critical condition with burns suffered when unknown assailants set her afire, police said.

Sharmeka Moffit, 20, of Winnsboro was exercising alone in a park Sunday night when a trio of men wearing hoodies attacked her, and wrote KKK and a slur against blacks on her car, the Shreveport Times reported.

Moffitt suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body and will need surgery to replace the dead skin.

Her mother told reporters Monday that to her knowledge her daughter had never been threatened.

"I have no idea who did it," Edna Moffitt said. "I want them to pay for what they did to her."

Authorities had made no arrests and no suspects had been identified.

Winnsboro police, the Franklin Parish sheriff's office, Louisiana state police and the FBI were investigating.