By the time firefighters showed up at the Newport Landing Apartments in Far Northeast Dallas on Tuesday, Lesley Williams' had already escaped from her burning unit, running outside and calling for help until a neighbor was able to douse the flames that still covered her body. Her hands, back and face were a patchwork of burns and blisters, and her hair had been scorched from her scalp.
Police had little trouble piecing together how the fire started.
"He just poured alcohol on her head and lit toilet paper and threw it, and caught her on fire," Crystal Gutierrez, a neighbor and the aunt to Williams' small children, told WFAA.. First, though, he hogtied her and beat her to the point that she drifted in and out of consciousness.
The 'he' in this case, according to police, is 28-year-old Christopher Price, a convicted felon who was named a person of interest in a triple murder at a Far North Dallas motel. According to The Dallas Morning News, Williams had been trying to end their months-long relationship when Price showed up Tuesday afternoon.
Police tracked him down a couple of days later at the home of his sister, where he was arrested on an aggravated assault charge. He's currently Lew Sterrett on a $300,000 bond. Nor is Christopher the only member of the Price family currently behind bars. His sister, Christina Price, was arrested on a retaliation charge after allegedly showing up at Gutierrez's apartment, accusing her of ratting out her brother to the cops, and threatening Williams' children.
"My sister is the sweetest person you will ever meet in your life, and she did not deserve to be set on fire by him," Gutierrez told WFAA.
