A woman is facing a murder charge in relation to a recent domestic violence incident in which police say she lit her boyfriend on fire at a gas station in Texas and then fled the scene, according to officials.
The Arlington Police Department (APD) said in an Aug. 3 press release it was notified on Tuesday that 25-year-old Ricky Doyle has died from his injuries, resulting in the case now being investigated as a homicide.
According to information obtained from eyewitnesses and security footage, Doyle arrived in a Jeep at a gas station on East Mayfield Road on the evening of July 18 and got into an argument with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Breana Johnson.
Investigators allege Johnson pumped gasoline into the backseat where Doyle was sitting and intentionally ignited it, causing him to catch fire.
Doyle then jumped out of the Jeep as his girlfriend took the vehicle and drove away from the scene.
Moments later, the department received multiple 911 calls to report that a man was just lit on fire, Arlington police said.
“By the time first responders arrived on the scene, bystanders had already put out the fire using extinguishers,” police wrote in the release. “The victim … suffered burns across most of his body and was critically injured.”
Soon after, APD detectives obtained a warrant for Johnson’s arrest on an aggravated assault charge. She was taken into custody on July 19, the day after the incident.
Johnson is currently being held at the Tarrant County Corrections Center on a $50,000 bond, jail records show.
On the day of the incident, a witness told detectives they heard Johnson yelling at Doyle that she was going to kill him, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Johnson then entered the petrol station’s store and bought 50 cents worth of gas, returned to the vehicle, and pumped it into the back seat of the car, the document stated, adding that she then “ignited the gasoline with an unknown object as she stood outside her vehicle.”
“Several witnesses then observed the victim quickly exit the vehicle and was completely engulfed in flames,” the warrant added.
“The victim ran throughout the parking lot attempting to extinguish the flames before another witness used a fire extinguisher on him. The victim walked into the gas station, where multiple witnesses attempted to render aid to the victim, who was bleeding and had skin that appeared to have melted from his body.”
On Aug. 2, Doyle was declared dead at a hospital in Collin County.
