A D.C. Superior Court judge sentenced a man to 25 years in prison for dousing his former girlfriend with gasoline, lighting her on fire and watching her burn in front of her children.
Judge Herbert Dixon Jr. called the December 2006 attack “deliberate” and “cruel” and ordered the stiff penalty despite a plea of a lesser sentence by the woman who was set ablaze.
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Terrance A. James, 49, faced a maximum of 17 years if the two charges, aggravated assault while armed and malicious disfigurement while armed, ran back to back.
Dixon ordered 25 years for each charge to run concurrently.
Before the sentencing, former girlfriend Patricia Scales stood with prosecutor George Hazel as he read a statement she had prepared.
“I’m asking for leniency for Mr. James in order to go on with my life,” Scales said. “I have to forgive but I will never forget.”
Despite the skin grafts and surgeries, Scales still showed the physical scars on her face and her left hand.
She wore a black glove on her right hand to prevent herself from scratching at her damaged nerves.
Scales, a recovering drug addict, has used the incident to try to help drug users turn their lives around. But she can’t perform small tasks, like make waffles for her children, ages 16 and 6, because she has trouble standing. At night, she’s unable to sleep.
James, who pleaded guilty in May, wiped his eyes with a tissue as he told the judge that he was sorry and that he still loved Scales.
“There’s not a day that goes past since Dec. 16 when I don’t have flashbacks,” James said. “I remember that day with tears.”
According to court records, James had become jealous and controlling of Scales after the two broke up last fall, according to court records.
Police were called at least twice to break up arguments.
On the day of the attack, James repeatedly called Scales but she did not respond, and he left his job working for a Washington Post distributor to find out what she was doing.
James kicked her bedroom door down, demanding to know where she had been that night. When she ignored him, Hazel said, James doused her with a concoction of gasoline and antifreeze and lit her on fire, shouting, “Who’s in control now?”
