A Georgia man who threatened to set himself and his former girlfriend on fire during a dispute has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Jesse Logan Ellis, 27, of Canton, was given a 30-year sentence by a Cherokee County judge on 23 October, with the remainder to be served on probation, the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office said.
Ellis pleaded guilty without a negotiated agreement to aggravated assault with intent to murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment. A request for him to be sentenced under Georgia’s First Offender Act was rejected.
Gasoline and lighter used in threat
The case arose from an incident on 13 May, when Ellis’s former girlfriend went to his home to collect a motorcycle helmet, prosecutors said.
She was allegedly prevented from leaving and escaped by asking to use a bathroom in another building on the property. She then went to a nearby house and asked two acquaintances to accompany her back to retrieve the helmet.
When the group returned, Ellis allegedly said the relationship could not end. Prosecutors said he poured petrol over himself, seized the woman in a bear hug and raised a lighter while threatening to burn them both.
Witnesses told investigators that Ellis said: “If I can’t have her, no one can.” The two acquaintances pulled the woman away, took the lighter and called emergency services.
Deputies found the victim crying by the roadside, according to the district attorney’s office. Her identity, and those of the two people who intervened, have not been released.
Assistant District Attorney Ashley Snow, who prosecuted the case through the office’s Domestic Violence Unit, said the woman believed she was at risk of being burned alive and continued to suffer emotional effects from the incident.
District Attorney Susan K Treadaway said the case demonstrated how domestic abuse can escalate when a victim attempts to leave a relationship, describing the behaviour as rooted in “power and control”.
Ellis will be subject to 18 years of probation after his release. He must have no contact with the victim, surrender all weapons and complete a family violence intervention programme, as well as mental health and substance abuse treatment.
