BLYTHEVILLE -- A Mississippi County Circuit Court jury found a man who police said killed a Blytheville woman by pouring gasoline on her and setting her on fire in 2016 guilty of first-degree murder, Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said.
Kordarro Woodard, 26, of Blytheville was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday evening by Judge Cindy Thyer.
Jurors took about three hours to deliberate Woodard's guilt and about 20 minutes to recommend the sentence, Ellington said.
Woodard was charged in the June 20, 2016, death of his girlfriend, Martha George, 37. Police said Woodard and George had been arguing that day and as George prepared to take a bath in her East Cherry Street home in Blytheville, Woodard poured gasoline on her and lit a cigarette lighter.
Capt. Scott Adams, commander of the Blytheville Police Department's criminal investigation division, said George jumped into the water-filled bathtub but suffered burns on 80 percent of her body.
Medical personnel transported her to the Regional One Burn Unit in Memphis, where she died June 24.
Woodard also had been charged with domestic battery and violating a no-contact order.
State Desk on 06/09/2017