Local Man Pleads Guilty to Setting Girlfriend on Fire

An Upstate man is headed to prison after he pleaded guilty Monday to setting fire to his girlfriend, said 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins.

Harold Watts, 52, of Piedmont was sentenced to 35 years for burglary and attempted murder. He will not be eligible for parole

Watts was charged with entering his girlfriend's mobile home on West Georgia Road with a gasoline canister, chasing her out the back door. Once outside, Watts grabbed the woman around the neck, doused her with gasoline, and set her on fire.

The victim ran screaming to her neighbor's back door seeking help and then attempted to roll on the ground to extinguish the flames, assistant solicitor Allen Fretwell said. While doing so, Watts walked up to the woman and poured more gasoline on her.

The victim was airlifted to Grady Burn Center in Atlanta. Thirty minutes after the incident, Watts turned himself in after he walked into a nearby convenience store and told a clerk to call 911.