An Illinois man pleaded guilty this week to setting a fire that killed his girlfriend’s mother in 2022.
Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas Haine said that Michael Sloan Jr., 41, could face up to 50 years in prison for the “especially heinous and cruel crime,” KSDK reported.
Prosecutors say Sloan got into an argument with his girlfriend, Courtney Tomlinson, on September 22, 2022. After forcing her to bind herself with zip ties, he doused her with gasoline.
“He grabbed the gas can, opened up my bathroom door and threw it in my face,” Courtney Tomlinson said shortly after the fire. “I couldn’t see. I was rinsing out my eyes. I have chemical burns on my chest. He had the lighter lit, but he couldn’t throw it on me for some reason. I was doused in gasoline.”
Tomlinson freed herself from the zip ties and ran to a neighbor’s for help. But Sloan went to the duplex next door — the home of her 69-year-old mother, Susanne Tomlinson.
“He threw gas on her (Susanne Tomlinson’s) face,” Courtney Tomlinson said at the time. “She couldn’t see. I yelled, ‘Are you OK?’ He pushed her. She fell on the floor.”
Sloan also doused himself with gasoline, apparently intending to light himself ablaze, because when police arrived, he held he lighter above his head and flicked it, causing a fireball.
He was rescued from the self-inflicted blaze and taken to a hospital for treatment before he was charged with first degree murder and several other felonies, including attempted murder. The other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal, The Telegraph said.
Sloan’s sentencing is scheduled for February 26.
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[Featured image: Michael Sloan Jr/Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office]
