CHULA VISTA, Calif. — A man who allegedly set his ex-girlfriend on fire at the Chula Vista 7-Eleven store where she worked, causing fatal burn injuries, has been charged with murder.
Jose Carlos Villanueva, 47, of Chula Vista, is accused of dousing 44-year-old Amanda Buchanan with gasoline and lighting her on fire on Aug. 24. The 8 a.m. fire also injured another employee of the 7-Eleven located on Broadway.
Villanueva was initially charged with attempted murder and pleaded not guilty last week.
However, Buchanan died at a hospital shortly after his arraignment.
Prosecutors have now charged him with murder and special-circumstance allegations of lying in wait and committing the killing in the commission of torture and mayhem. If convicted, he would face either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, should prosecutors pursue capital punishment.
He also faces charges of torture, mayhem, arson causing great bodily injury, assault and being a felon in possession of a firearm. A criminal complaint states the alleged fatal arson was committed while Villanueva was out on bail in a separate case.
Villanueva was arrested about six hours after the fire in the San Bernardino County city of Redlands. Officers had determined his car's license plate number and found the vehicle parked at a gas station, with Villanueva inside.
A GoFundMe page created to support Buchanan's family described her as "a beloved mother, daughter and friend who touched the lives of everyone she met with her kindness, warmth, strength and unwavering spirit. Amanda's untimely passing leaves a profound void in our hearts and in the lives of her loved ones."
Buchanan's loved ones are holding a celebration of life Sept. 6 at Church of the Most Precious Blood.
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