Metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta

Officials capture man accused of setting ex on fire

Mervin Woodard (Credit: Clayton County Sheriff’s Office)
Mervin Woodard (Credit: Clayton County Sheriff’s Office)
By Steve Burns
June 3, 2016

A man who allegedly set his former girlfriend on fire was apprehended Friday in Clayton County, authorities said.

Mervin Woodard, 39, was taken into custody about 10 a.m. at a residence on Parson Court in Ellenwood, Clayton County police Sgt. Ashanti Marbury said. He was trying to hide in the attic of the burn victim’s residence.

Police said they received a tip after Woodard parked his vehicle a few blocks away from the home to try to go unnoticed.

Clayton sheriff's deputies and U.S. Marshals assisted in the operation.

The ex-girlfriend, 35, told Clayton County police that Woodard set her on fire during a fight at her home. She suffered third-degree burns on more than 25 percent of her body.

After the fight, Woodard drove the woman to Grady Memorial Hospital, police said, then drove off in her car without telling medical staff of her injuries, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

She remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit Thursday in a medically induced coma, police said.

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