Garland Clerk Set on Fire in Robbery Dies

Police to pursue capital murder charge against suspect

A 76-year-old convenience store clerk who was set on fire during a robbery at the Garland gas station where she worked has died.

Nancy Harris died at Parkland Hospital on Friday evening, Garland police said in a statement. Harris had burns on more than 40 percent of her body.

Police said Harris, a clerk at a Fina station in the 3300 block of Broadway Boulevard, was attacked at about 7 a.m. Sunday.

Two officers saw her emerge from the gas station with the upper half of her body on fire. One of the officers put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. She told the officers she had been robbed, doused with a liquid and set on fire.

Matthew Johnson, 36, was arrested a short time later and charged with criminal attempted capital murder. Garland police said they would work with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office to pursue a charge of capital murder.

Johnson is being held in the Dallas County Jail a $1 million bond.

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