photo courtesy of Tarrant County Corrections Center
Texas woman Breana Johnson, 24, faces murder charges after allegedly setting her boyfriend on fire at a gas station on July 18.
According to KSAT, the initial charges were recently upgraded from aggravated assault to homicide charges after the victim, Ricky Doyle, 25, succumbed to his severe injuries. Although the incident occurred late Monday night, Johnson was arrested the following day and charged immediately after.
Oxygen True Crime reported that the police were called by Doyle’s sister to report what she described to be a domestic violence incident. She told Arlington police that Johnson had hit Doyle before driving away angrily to an EZ Mart Shell gas station located at the
1900 block of East Mayfield Road. As written in affidavits, “Officers spoke with multiple witnesses who advised they initially observed the suspect and victim arguing while in the white Jeep Patriot, which was parked near a gas pump.”“One witness overheard the suspect tell the victim while he was in the back seat, ‘I’m going to kill you.’”
Johnson then was seen walking into the gas station and purchasing just 50 cents worth of gas while her boyfriend waited in the car. She returned and dispensed the gasoline into the back of the car where her boyfriend sat. Moments later, Johnson set fire to the white Jeep.
“Several witnesses then observed the victim [Doyle] quickly exit the vehicle and was completely engulfed in flames,” the affidavit noted. “The victim ran throughout the parking lot attempting to extinguish the flames before another witness used a fire extinguisher on him.”
Doyle made it to the gas station, and people described his skin as melting off and “bleeding” extensively. By the time the Fire Department and paramedics arrived on the scene, Doyle was severely burned, and Johnson had fled the scene, allegedly “smiling.”
Despite being airlifted to the hospital, Doyle died in the hospital on August 2.
Johnson is being held at Tarrant County Jail with a $50,000 bond, with the case being investigated as a homicide. Doyle’s sister told news outlets that Johnson had been abusive on multiple occasions towards her brother, and she believed the killing was a result of this.