A man Clarence Duwell Dear, 51, who is accused of murdering a woman in the Los Angeles suburb of Pomona, California, on Friday by dousing her in gasoline and setting her ablaze in a domestic argument on Christmas Day has been arrested.
Investigators say Dear and 41-year-old Dawn Hensley got into a fight on Friday afternoon and he chased her from their home, doused her with gasoline and ignited it, possibly using a lit cigarette. The woman, engulfed in flames, ran and collapsed on the street.
Witnesses described the horrific moment they saw the woman, 41, flee from a house in the 1500 block of Cordova Street engulfed in flames. Neighbors rushed to try and help her as she collapsed outside and remained with the victim until Los Angeles County fire crews arrived.
She was treated at the scene for severe burns before being transported to a local hospital where she later died. The Pomona Police Department says that, acting on a tip, officers from the Pasadena Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies arrested 51-year-old Clarence Dear on Sunday morning on a bus in Altadena.
Deputies believe that Dear had got into a suspected domestic dispute with his victim shortly before 1.40pm. The 'heated argument' then escalated to physical violence and the 51-year-old had chased the woman from the house and doused her in gasoline, say Pomona Police Department.
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