{"id":193256,"date":"2018-12-27T13:00:29","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T19:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=193256"},"modified":"2018-12-31T15:20:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T21:20:50","slug":"court-accused-pregnant-girlfriend-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/court-accused-pregnant-girlfriend-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Court sides with man accused of setting his pregnant girlfriend on fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Maryland man has been found not guilty<\/a> of setting his pregnant girlfriend on fire in late 2017, in a case that draws attention to the problem of violence against pregnant women.<\/p>\n

The jury found Laquinn Phillips not guilty on all counts, including attempted murder. Authorities say he set Andrea Grinage, who was seven months pregnant, on fire inside her apartment back in September 2017 because he did not want her to give birth to their child. Grinage and her baby both thankfully survived.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0NHL star accused of forcing ex-girlfriend to have multiple abortions<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Grinage accused Phillips of being part of a love triangle, and said he chose to try to kill her and their baby as a way to get out of the relationship.\u00a0According to local news station WTOP, Phillips had threatened Grinage’s life before. Grinage “filed a protective order<\/a> in D.C. against Phillips in September 2016″ after he allegedly tried to run her off the road. WTOP adds:<\/p>\n

The woman already has two children, according to court documents. She wrote, \u201cI fear for the safety of myself and my children\u201d after she said Phillips sent her threatening texts urging her not to have the baby.<\/em><\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Phillips forced the woman into the bathtub of her apartment, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire.<\/em><\/p>\n

Investigators said she was forced to deliver her daughter prematurely at 33 weeks.<\/em><\/p>\n

Grinage said she will fight to make sure he does not get visitation with or custody of their daughter.<\/p>\n

Phillips and his lawyer, Jay Wyndal Gordon, suggested to the court that Grinage set herself on fire. Phillips told the media that he was wrongfully accused and trusted in God to help him.\u00a0Grinage responded in her own press conference to say, “I think he is the devil in person. That he can sit and talk about God after what he did to me. That this man told me he loved me before he set me on fire.”<\/p>\n

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