A College Park man has been convicted of dousing his girlfriend and setting her on fire.
Channel 2 Action News reported that Orville Brooks was convicted Friday afternoon of in the attack against Tara Best at their apartment last January.
Brooks was convicted on eight counts, including false imprisonment and criminal intent to commit murder. He was acquitted of an arson charge.
Seventy percent of Best's body was burned, and she spent three months on life support.
Clayton Assistant District Attorney Mike Thurston said Brooks, 30, used a gas can to saturate his girlfriend, 21-year-old Best, with gasoline and then set her on fire in the couple’s bathroom after a fight.
Defense attorney Rand Csehy contended the fire was an accident, and that Brooks never “doused” the woman, but poured gasoline on himself and his girlfriend. When he flicked a lighter to scare her, gas vapors ignited, the lawyer said.
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