CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga.,None — A 21-year-old Clayton County woman burned alive took the stand Tuesday to speak out against her ex-boyfriend.
Orville Brooks is accused of dousing Tara Best with gasoline and setting her on fire at their apartment in January 2011. Channel 2's Tom Jones went to the Clayton County courtroom where Best testified she thought she was going to die.
"He lit the match and threw it on me," Best said.
Brooks didn't move a muscle as Best recounted the life-threatening ordeal. She said her ex was abusive and jealous and became angry after she came home late from work. That's when Brooks began beating her and then placed her in the bathtub of their apartment, she said. She said she then noticed him with a gas can.
"I can just remember him pouring it on me and saying stuff, and I'm just pleading with him not to do it," Best said.
Seventy percent of her body was burned and she spent three months on life support, but Brooks disputes her account of events. His lawyer said he didn't douse her with gasoline.
"Orville brooks lit a lighter that caused an explosion that caused Ms. Best to be burned," defense attorney Rand Csehy said, interrupting her testimony.
Best said she ran of the apartment screaming for help.
"I remember some neighbors coming up to me and asking me what happened," Best said. "And I remember saying, 'My momma told me to leave him.'"
Brooks could have accepted a plea deal where he would serve a 50-year sentence with parole eligibility after 30 years, but that offer expired when the jury was seated. So, Brooks is now looking at life sentence plus 207 years if he is convicted.
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