Woman gets 45 years for murder of boyfriend set on fire

A Chicago woman received a 45-year prison sentence Monday for killing her boyfriend by soaking him with gasoline, which then caused a fire that burned him over 75 percent of his body.
Allan Penny, 61, died July 24, 2010, after having been burned on July 2, 2010, in the apartment he shared with Sherry Ann Hartison, now 45, in the 3100 block of West Washington Boulevard in the East Garfield Park neighborhood. A jury convicted Hartison of first-degree murder last month .
Hartison had a history of frequently threatening Penny, who received a monthly disability check, if he did not give her money.
“In the past she had poured hot water and grease on him, beat him, and used an aerosol can and lighter to make a blowtorch … to scare him,” prosecutors said in the release.
In the attack that ended Penny’s life, about 3 p.m. July 2, 2010, Hartison, who had “become enraged about the money” doused Penny with gasoline, then closed and locked the apartment door when he tried to escape.
Gasoline fumes ignited, setting Penny and the couple’s apartment on fire, and Hartison ran away, with Penny on the floor in the apartment. A neighbor who heard Penny screaming rushed into the apartment, poured water on him, wrapped him in a blacnket and carried him out to the building’s front porch.
Before he was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital for treatment, Penny identified Hartison as his attacker.
After Penny died, the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined he died from sepsis and pneumonia brought on by the injuries he suffered in the fire.