Dave Dave, who was set afire as boy, died of natural causes

LAS VEGAS – Medical examiners in Las Vegas have determined that artist Dave Dave, who was badly scarred when his father set him on fire as a boy, died of natural causes.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg (FYOU’-den-berg) said in a statement Monday that the artist born David Rothenberg died July 15 of sepsis due to pneumonia. He was 42.

As a 6-year-old, Dave was set afire and badly burned in 1983 by his father in a Southern California motel room near Disneyland.

He underwent numerous skin grafts but refused to define himself as a victim. He became a close friend of Michael Jackson’s.

Dave’s father, Charles Rothenberg, went to prison for attempted murder and later amassed a criminal record for other crimes before being sentenced in California in 2007 to 25 years to life in prison.