Holly MatkinDetroit, MI – A longtime drug dealer accused of dousing his pregnant girlfriend with lighter fluid and setting her on fire could potentially walk out of jail for posting just $5,000 due to bail reform policies.
Police said the 26-year-old unnamed victim, who is nearly seven months pregnant with twins, was burned over 60 percent of her body, The Macomb Daily reported.
She remained in critical condition on Friday.
It is unclear if her unborn babies will survive, FOX News reported.
“How do you do this to another human being? It’s unimaginable,” Detroit Police Department Commander Michael McGinnis said in a news release. “Just incredibly traumatic injuries. I just can’t imagine the pain she must be suffering.”
The 26-year-old mother-to-be was discovered on Jan. 14 after Detroit police received a report that a woman was being held against her will and tortured inside a home on Packard Street, The Macomb Daily reported.
Police said they found the victim laying on a bed in the basement, suffering from severe burns to her stomach and legs.
She could barely move due to her wounds, according to investigators.
The terrified woman ultimately told investigators about what had happened to her and identified her captor as her 42-year-old boyfriend, Devonne Marsh, The Macomb Daily reported.
“I want to applaud her for coming forward,” Detroit Police Department (DPD) Domestic Violence Unit Supervisor Sergeant Kyla Williams told the paper. “I want to again let her know that she is not alone. She has the men and women of the Detroit Police Department to support her.”
Police said Marsh, whose criminal history stretches back at least two decades, had been on the run since absconding from probation in March of 2020, The Macomb Daily reported.
He was supposed to serve a two-year probation sentence due to pleading guilty to four counts of delivering over 50 grams of cocaine.
Marsh previously served prison time for firearms charges, drug possession, and assault with a deadly weapon, and had warrants out of Livonia and Macomb County at the time of his latest arrest, according to WJBK.
He has since been charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, domestic violence, assault and battery of a pregnant individual, felonious assault, felony firearm, delivery/manufacturing of controlled substances, and felony possession, the Daily Mail reported.
Despite his criminal history and the severity of his current charges, Marsh’s bond was set at $50,000 or 10 percent, which means he could be released on just $5,000 bond, according to The Macomb Daily.
He posted that bond on Jan. 21, but remained in jail due to additional pending charges in another matter, WJBK reported.
Wayne County prosecutors said they are filing a motion to try to get Marsh’s bond raised because they don’t believe it is adequate.
