‘Extremely violent’ man accused of lighting woman on fire arrested, Richland deputies say
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested a man who deputies say doused a woman in gasoline and lit her on fire.
The department charged 42 year-old Keitrick Stevenson of Columbia with attempted murder Tuesday and jailed him at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. A judge denied Stevenson bond.
Sheriff Leon Lott said Stevenson is an “extremely violent repeat offender.”
“This isn’t our first run-in with Mr. Stevenson,” Lott said. “We arrested him for stabbing a man to death in 2006. He did time for that and got out only to try and kill someone else. This man has a total disregard for human life.”
The alleged attack happened on March 21, the department said. Stevenson is accused of approaching a group of people sitting outside a home in the 1000 block of Prescott Road. Stevenson was carrying a pitcher filled with gasoline, according to the department. He singled out the woman and doused her in the gasoline, deputies said.
Stevenson threw matches at the woman as she ran away, the department said. She fell to the ground and was ignited by one of the matches.
The woman was taken to a local hospital where she is currently in the burn center, deputies said.
Deputies found the pitcher they believe Stevenson used and traced it back to the store where he purchased it along with matches, according to the department.
In 2007, Stevenson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years in prison, court records show. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to intent to sell drugs and was sentenced to three years of probation.