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Updated: 4:41 PM May 27, 2010
Man Gets Life In Prison For Setting Girlfriend On Fire
A man who admitted he set his girlfriend on fire will now spend his life behind bars.
Posted: 10:33 PM May 26, 2010Reporter: Brooks Jarosz Email Address: brooks.jarosz@wsaz.com  Man Sentenced For Setting Girlfriend on Fire |
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20 Comments 
UPDATE 5/26/10 @ 7:25 p.m.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A man who admitted he set his girlfriend on fire will now spend his life behind bars.
Farley Rhodes said he got upset, doused his girlfriend with lighter fluid and lit a match.
The crime happened in September 2008, but the effects on the family will last a lifetime.
Starlena Pratt's family says they just wanted closure after the gruesome crime was re-lived in the courtroom again Wednesday afternoon.
"Just give justice to my daughter so we all can rest in peace," Star's mother, Marcia Chandler said. "We've suffered enough."
Starlena Pratt suffered with her body covered in burns for weeks, until the day she died in the hospital.
"I just can't believe that somebody that loved her like that would do that to her," Chandler said.
"I don't know what to say," Rhodes said. "I know it's wrong, what I did, and I'm ready to be punished."
The defense asked for life with mercy saying Rhodes had mental problems and was picked on as a kid.
"Farley is a bit slow and doesn't have the functions in life many others would have," Rhodes' sister said.
The judge still ruled against the defense's request..
"He needed to spend the rest of his life in jail so he can on a daily basis be reminded of what he done to my niece," Star's Aunt Teresa Pratt said. "He took her life and he doesn't deserve one either."
Even though his sentence was no joke, as Rhodes left the court room he smirked and stuck out his tongue.
"He can't say that he loved her," Chandler said. "He didn't love her at all."
"I don't believe he's sorry," Teresa Pratt said. "How could you do a person like that?"
Now Star's family has to remember what she looked like before and after that terrible night with pictures of her days of suffering in the hospital.
"Star was our angel and she'll always be our angel," Teresa Pratt said.
The family of Star rallied on the street corner shouting, 'Justice has been served!'
For Rhodes, there is no possibility of parole as he will spend his entire in jail.
ORIGINAL STORY 3/1/10
KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- It has been more than a year since a Kanawha County man allegedly set his girlfriend on fire.
The murder trial for Farley Rhodes that was supposed to start Monday, though, has been delayed.
The prosecution and the defense told the judge they just received the mental evaluation for Rhodes on Friday and they did not have enough time to go over it.
The judge pushed back his trial until May 17.
Rhodes is accused of setting Starlena Pratt on fire at their home in South Charleston in August 2008. She died a month later.
Rhodes faces murder and arson charges.
Latest Comments
brother i know you would never hurt anyone or anything unless you was forsted unto it i know onething thay ought to look in her exboyfriend he had a big hand in it
I am glad he did not get mercy, but I know he is not sorry for what he did and that he still thinks it is funny. I firmly believe that Starleena's family should have the chance to do to him what he did to Starleena. He needs to suffer the way she did. Yes he may be slow, so what if he was picked on as a child... he is an adult that tortured and killed another human being because she was leaving him. Domestic violence and murder. I am glad that this is somewhat over, I say somewhat because Starleena's family have to live with the memories of Starleena in pain and suffering for the rest of their lives. Rhodes could care less. Hopefully he will suffer in prison.
Yeah, I agree with those about the excuse is always he was bullied or he had mental problems or he was abused and of course the ultimate excuse "society made me like this." ever notice they use these excuses like it's a crutch. Well, the newspaper shows a photo of him with his tongue stuck out? Well get used to that buddy, alot of your boyfriends in prison will rub something against that tongue so get used to licking for the rest of your life.
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