Darrell Bivens will spend four to six years in prison for lighting her partner on fire, an act she described in court as an accident. The victim suffered second- and third-degree burns to his torso.
Mackenzi Klemann/The Lima News
LIMA — A Limaite will spend four to six years in prison and register as an arsonist for setting their partner on fire.
“I never meant to hurt my husband like that,” Darrell Bivens, 53, told Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Terri Kohlrieser during a sentencing hearing Thursday, weeks after pleading guilty to a single count of aggravated arson, a first-degree felony.
Bivens, who identifies as female, dabbed away tears as she described throwing alcohol and lighting a match to scare her partner away.
“He was beating me,” Bivens said. “I was trying to get away from him.”
The victim suffered second- and third-degree burns to his torso, resulting in a skin graft and pain so severe the victim still struggles with basic tasks like mowing the lawn, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Cecily Stewart said, recommending the maximum sentence allowed — 11 to 16 years.
Assistant Public Defender Steven Chamberlain described the attack as a “crime of passion,” telling Kohlrieser that Bivens has “shown remorse” and “tried to change herself” as he asked the judge to consider community control.
Kohlrieser pointed to inconsistencies between Bivens’s self-defense story and past statements to police, as well as the victim’s admission to striking Bivens when Bivens tried to light him on fire.
“Whatever happened that day seems like it got out of control,” Kohlrieser said, sentencing Bivens to four to six years in prison and another three to five years of parole.
Bivens is required to submit an address and list of tattoos and scars to the sheriff’s arson registry each year for life.
