Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Man Gets Life Sentence for Setting Ex-Girlfriend on Fire

A Val Verde man convicted of attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend by pouring gasoline on her and setting her on fire was sentenced Wednesday to life plus three years in prison.

Johnny Mack Finney, 39, told Superior Court Judge Candace Beason he was sorry for the August, 1993, attack and meant no harm to Janice Johnson, 31, who sustained second- and third-degree burns to a quarter of her body.

Johnson urged a stiffer sentence at the hearing. She told the judge that she still fears for her life and asked that Finney be given a life sentence without possibility of parole.

But state law doesn’t allow the judge to deny parole eligibility to Finney on this conviction, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Jonas. The sentence he received makes him eligible for release after only 10 years, but Jonas said the nature of the crime makes it unlikely Finney would get an early parole.

“I think he’ll be taking his meals through a straw before he sees the light of day,” Jonas said.

Deputy Public Defender Howard Waco, who argued during the trial that the attack was a misguided attempt by Finney to frighten Johnson, said he doesn’t believe Finney will remain in prison for life.

“I would say if he behaves himself I would think somewhere around 15 years might be in the ballpark,” Waco said.

Sheriff’s officials said the assault came after Johnson broke off the relationship. Finney asked Johnson to go into the bathroom of her Val Verde home to talk to him, officials said, and once there emptied a two-liter plastic drink bottle of gasoline on her. He then threw a lighter at her as her three children watched.

A neighbor who drove Finney to the house, not knowing his intentions, heard Johnson screaming and rushed in to put out the fire with his hands.

Johnson, now living in California City, is on disability due to the disfigurement from the burns and her limited use of one arm.