Woman who was set on fire to undergo surgery

From news services

An Athens woman remained in a medically induced coma two days after her boyfriend allegedly doused her with kerosene and set her on fire.

A judge denied bond Wednesday for the boyfriend, Phillip Scruggs, 49.

Elisa Denise Davenport, 42, who suffered burns over 60 percent of her body, remained in critical condition at Doctors Hospital of Augusta and was scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday, family members told the Athens Banner-Herald.

“Right now, they’re saying there’s still a chance she may or may not pull through,” said Davenport’s only child, Schatara Carter, 21.

“I don’t want to look at it that way, but I have to,” Carter said. “It’s hard, because Mama is the best thing I have.”

“The doctors told us to hope for the best but prepare for the worst,” Eric Davenport, the woman’s brother, told the newspaper. “It don’t look real good for her now, so all I can do is hope and pray she survives this.”

Lisa Davenport was trying to get out of an abusive relationship when she was attacked early Tuesday morning in her apartment north of downtown Athens, police said.

Scruggs allegedly set Davenport on fire, starting a blaze that gutted her apartment and spread to other units in the building.

Scruggs is being held at the Clarke County Jail on charges of aggravated assault and first-degree arson, as well as a felony probation violation.

Scruggs was previously convicted of assaulting Davenport but was released from prison in 2004 after serving two years, the Banner-Herald reported.