sharmeka moffitt, social media, Winnsboro - KNOE 8 News; KNOE-TV; KNOE.com |

WINNESBORO, La. (KNOE 8 News) - Since Sunday night, the story of Sharmeka Moffitt, the young woman who set herself on fire, has gone viral on countless web sites and major news outlets. But some of the comments on those sites have some Franklin Parish neighbors concerned.

"She's laying there and they just saying n**** this n***** burn, it's not cool and hopefully those people weren't raised that way" said Winnsboro mother Kendra Grant, who says the rampant spread of hate is disturbing, but it's the comments from posters within the Franklin Parish community that have her and her neighbors worried. "This has to do with pure ignorance in the community" said Grant.

Many of the posts we found on Facebook about the topic were too inflammatory to display here and Grant says her biggest fear is a racially motivated attack will actually happen if the hateful posting doesn't stop. "Just keep your mouth closed because it's causing too much friction in our community and if it doesn't stop one thing is going to escalate to another" said Grant.

With much of the misinformation on the case initially spread via social media, Franklin Parish Sheriff Kevin Cobb also sent out a warning for everyone to be careful with what they are posting. "I want to let everyone know we are in a different time with social media and it really affects the way law enforcement reacts to situations these days" said Cobb.

Grant says regardless of whether Moffitt fabricated the story, it shouldn't give anybody a reason to use racial slurs and spread hate. "She's still human, even if the story was fabricated, they just need to leave it alone".