Police have arrested a Memphis man for setting his girlfriend on fire with a cigarette after attempting to leave him.
According to reports, Kenneth Upshaw, 38, was arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder after he allegedly poured gasoline on his girlfriend and set her on fire with a lit cigarette.
On Thursday, Memphis police said that after the incident, his girlfriend was able to escape.
The woman is currently being treated at the Regional Medical Center after suffering second-degree to deep second-degree burns to her face, neck, chest, and arms.
She told police that on October 8, she attempted to break up with Upshaw while standing in the driveway of his friend’s East Memphis home.
According to documents obtained by ABC 24, Upshaw informed the woman that “if he could not be with her, then no one would,” before dousing her in gasoline and throwing a lighted cigarette at her, setting her on fire.
Upshaw and his friend eventually put out the fire.
His friend claimed that he had no idea what was going on until he was informed that is was a fire in his driveway.
“It was pretty bad. I mean, it burned the whole back end and part of the back driver’s side and started to get where the gas tank is, and I thought it was going to explode,” the man told WREG.
According to court documents, the couple has a long history of domestic violence.
