Judy with her daughters before the incident. Photo / Facebook
Judy with her daughters before the incident. Photo / Facebook
A woman who was doused with gasoline and set on fire by her ex-boyfriend has died nearly two years after the attack.
Judy Malinowski, 33, died on Tuesday, her mother Bonnie Bowes confirmed.
"That child suffered for two years to tell her own story, who has the strength to do it?" Bowes said.
The mother-of-two suffered fourth- and fifth-degree burns to 80 per cent of her body when her ex-boyfriend, 41-year-old Michael Slager, set her on fire at a Gahanna, Ohio gas station after a fight in August 2015.
Initially, Slager claimed that he didn't mean to set her on fire. He said that he accidentally ignited the fuel when he lit a cigarette.
Both of Malinowski's ears and parts of her fingers were melted off in the fire, and she lost the ability to speak above a whisper due to extensive damage to her trachea. She lost the ability to walk and needed a ventilator to help her breathe.
She underwent 56 surgeries after the attack, but doctors couldn't fix massive open wounds on her back and buttocks because she was too weak to lay on her stomach during surgery.
She remained hospitalised until May, when she was moved to palliative care.
Meanwhile, Slager pleaded no contest to charges of felonious assault, aggravated arson and possession of criminal tools and was sentenced to the maximum of 11 years in prison in December.
Following Malinowski's death on Tuesday however, Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said his office is now pursuing murder charges against him.
"It would be our intention, and it has been all along, that should she pass away it was our intention to pursue a homicide charge," O'Brien said. "This day was not unexpected for probably a long time, but it's sad that it finally arrived."
Malinowski passed away nearly two years after the incident. Photo / Channel 10
In January, Malinowski recorded a sealed deposition of the attack that can be used as evidence if Slager goes to trial for murder.
Outrage over Slager's meager 11-year sentence has spurned action in Ohio, where lawmakers are on the verge of passing a law named after Malinowski.
Judy's Law would increase the penalties for cases like Malinowki's, where a victim is left permanently disfigured when an accelerant is used to set them on fire. It unanimously passed the Ohio House in May and is waiting on the Senate.
Malinowski's eldest daughter Kaylyn, 13, testified last week before an Ohio Senate committee about the bill.
"While he got 11 years, my mom, my sister and I all got a life sentence,' said Kaylyn.
"While we stand here today, my mom lays in a hospital bed where she has been for 689 days."
