Judy Malinowski.
Against all odds,Judy Malinowskiwas going to ensure that the man who burned her alive would receive a life behind bars.
The 31-year-old mother of two, who died in June 2017, spent two years in a hospital bed after an argument with her ex-boyfriendMichael Slagerended with him dousing her in gasoline and lighting her on fire outside of a suburban gas station.
Malinowski, a former homecoming queen who her mother Bonnie Bowes says was “friends with everybody,” needed to be revived seven times and required more than 50 agonizing surgeries to stay alive. The attack left 90 percent of body covered in burns.
But when Slager was only sentenced to 11 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to aggravated arson charges, Malinowski found a new purpose to hold on for life and make sure her voice would be heard.
“Judy said, ‘Mom, not even an ant should be set on fire. I got a life sentence and he didn’t,’“ her mother Bonnie says in this week’s issue of PEOPLE.
Shortly before her death in 2017, Malinowski spent weeks weaning off pain medication to a point where she could prove to a judge she was of sound mind. Then she spent three hours testifying against Slager, who she said refused her pleas for help after he lit her ablaze. “The look on his face was pure evil,” she says in the video that was taken from her hospital bed.
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Judy Malinowski and her daughters.Judy’s Foundation
Judy’s Foundation
The videotape was played for a courtroom in Franklin County, Ohio in 2018 after Slager was charged with aggravated murder, making Malinowski the first person in history to testify at their own murder trial. After hearing the Ohio mother’s testimony, Slager was sentenced to life in prison for murder.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.Malinowski’s family — daughters Kaylyn and Madison, sister Danielle Gorman, brother Patrick Bowes, and mother Bonnie — haven’t stopped their fight for justice, however. The family pushed for tougher legislation for assaults using an accelerant that leave victims seriously disfigured. And on September 7, 2017, Malinowski’s family stood together at the Ohio Statehouse as “Judy’s Law” was enacted.
Michael Slager.
“She hung on and fought for justice,” her mother says now. “She suffered beyond measure to make a change for other women.”
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
