Firefighter acquitted in attempted slaying of pregnant woman

WASHINGTON – A former Washington, D.C., firefighter has been found not guilty of trying to kill his girlfriend by dousing her in gasoline and setting her on fire.

News outlets report 35-year-old Laquinn Phillips was acquitted Thursday of charges including attempted murder.

Thirty-two-year-old Andrea Grinage, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, was seven months pregnant when she was set on fire in September 2017. She suffered burns to 90 per cent of her body and underwent an emergency C-section. Both Grinage and the baby survived.

Prosecutors said Phillips attacked Grinage when she refused to get an abortion. Phillips’ lawyer argued that Grinage set herself on fire for attention.

Phillips was a District firefighter before his arrest.

A Maryland man named Johnathan Miller III still is charged with offences including attempted first-degree murder in the attack.