Macon man doused former girlfriend in gasoline, set her on fire. He’s sentenced
A Bibb County jury convicted a man of setting his former girlfriend on fire and creating a “campaign to obstruct justice,” a news release from the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office said Friday.
Christopher Ivry was found guilty of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and tampering with evidence Wednesday. His case stemmed from a violent domestic incident “in which Ivry doused his former girlfriend with gasoline and set her on fire using a cigarette lighter” on Dec. 17, 2018, the news release said.
He’ll serve 40 years in prison.
Ivry pressured former girlfriend to say wounds were self-inflicted
On the day of the incident, Ivry and the victim had breakfast at a Waffle House before they went to buy gasoline for his truck. However, an argument broke out that lasted until they returned to their residence, the news release said.
“In a moment of frustration, the victim kicked a gas can on the ground,” the news release said. “Ivry responded by seizing the can, pouring the contents on the victim, and igniting her with a lighter.”
The victim got into her car and drove for help. Ivry was in the passenger seat, telling her it would be all right, according to the news release. He pressured her to tell authorities that the wounds were self-inflicted.
She refused. It led Ivry to exit the vehicle, call 911 and “falsely (portray) himself as a victim and (place) blame entirely on her,” the news release said.
Multiple testimonies in trial
After his arrest, Ivry “mounted a sustained campaign to obstruct justice,” the news release said.
Investigators received messages from the victim’s phone requesting that the charges be dropped around July 2019. Further investigation revealed “Ivry had been impersonating the victim by sending Facebook messages from her profile to his own account in an attempt to align her story with his version of events,” the news release said.
Ivry fled from two court proceedings, leading law enforcement to “apprehend him as a fugitive before he could be brought to trial,” the news release said.
Ivry gave various testimonies in his trial of what occurred the day of the incident, the news release said. He first claimed he set himself on fire, but also mentioned that the victim accidentally ignited herself. He also claimed that he “caught fire first, and she was burned by contact with fur coats he was wearing,” the news release said.
“He described the entire incident, including the victim’s severe burns, as a personal ‘blessing in disguise’ because his subsequent arrest allowed him to receive surgery he could not otherwise have afforded,” the news release said.
The victim testified in the trial. She shared that she realized she was a victim of domestic violence after intensive therapy.
“This victim endured not only a horrific physical attack, but years of manipulation, intimidation, and psychological abuse designed to silence her and shield her attacker from accountability,“ said District Attorney Anita Howard. “Christopher Ivry demonstrated a complete and chilling disregard for human life, and this sentence reflects the gravity of what he chose to do.”
