Pregnant woman set on fire by boyfriend delivers baby prematurely
A man, who did not want to be a dad, doused his pregnant girlfriend
in flammable liquid and set her on fire, forcing her to deliver her baby
seven weeks premature.
Andrea Grinage, 30, was found with critical burns over much of her
body around 11.45am on Friday in Capitol Heights, Maryland, when police
and fire crews responded to reports of a fire. She soon went into labour
forced by the horrific trauma and gave birth to a baby girl, named
Journey Aleah, seven weeks early. Mother and baby are both recovering.
Andrea Grinage was able to tell investigators who had attacked her,
and said that she suspected he was headed to Washington DC to attack
other members of her family. Detectives suceeded in getting the suspect
on the phone and talked him into turning himself in. The suspect has not
yet been publicly identified by law enforcement.
The victim was already the mother of two boys, ages 8 and 15. Her
father Arthur Grinage Sr said she lost everything in the fire which
started when her boyfriend doused her in an accelerant and set her on
fire. He is appealing for help on a GoFundMe campaign to help his
daughter start over.
Arthur Grinage Sr wrote in the GoFundMe appeal: "Everything was lost
in the fire and she must begin a new with your help. She has a long road
to recovery and unknown medical cost. PLEASE stop domestic violence!!"
The victim's father said that the attack stemmed from the pregnancy and the boyfriend's immature attitude towards fatherhood.
"It all stems from him not wanting to take responsibility of him
being a newborn dad. He didn't want that. And once a baby is conceived
it's too late for all that. You either step up and be a dad or you walk
away."
Cops praised Grinage for maintaining her composure for the sake of her new daughter, who is healthy and doing well.
Prince George's County police spokeswoman Jennifer Donelan told NBC
Washington: "These are not the circumstances under which this baby was
to be born. She was very brave. We want her family to know how brave she
was, suffering as badly as she was - critically burned, worried about
her unborn child, dealing with those injuries and was able to share that
information with us so that we could get moving with our investigation
and locate this person."
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