Trial Begins For Man Accused of Setting Clerk on Fire

The capital murder trial begins Monday for a man charged with the 2012 brutal killing a 76-year-old store clerk who was doused in flammable liquid and set on fire.

Prosecutors said Matthew Lee Johnson stole money from a Garland convenience store cash register before he doused the clerk, Nancy Harris, in flammable liquid, set her on fire and ran away.

The horrific attack was captured on the store’s surveillance tape.

Harris died a few days later with almost half of her body covered in burns. However, she was able to describe her attacker to the Garland police officers who rushed to her aid.

Harris was a grandmother and a widow. She had worked at the store for more than a decade and customers called her “everyone’s grandma.”

Police found Johnson trying to burglarize homes near the gas station and said he matched the description of the suspect that set the beloved clerk on fire.

If convicted of the murder charge, Johnson could be executed.

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