

Allen Rhodes (Myspace) and Starlena Pratt (Myspace)
Charleston, WV - More to the point, he lit her on fire. On August 2, Farley “Allen” Rhodes, 31, doused his girlfriend with an accelerant and set her aflame - to keep her from leaving him.  Which was stupid, because now Starlena Pratt, 28, is gone forever. She died of her burns on September 3, and Allen Rhodes is facing multiple felony charges in connection with the attack.Â
Allen and Star, as they were called, had been together “off and on” since junior high school. They took breaks and dated other people from time to time, but it seemed they always ended up together – and Starlena always ended up on the rough end of the beatdown stick.  Her mother tried to talk to her, and for awhile, it seemed that Star would listen. But in the end, she’d always go back to Allen.
Allen’s Myspace is pretty telling. In it, his profile says “I’m an easygoing person until you piss me off. Apparently Allen Rhodes has a little gift for understatement.
On the night of August 2, 2008, Starlena and Allen went out with Starlena’s ex-boyfriend David Stevens. By night’s end, Starlena decided she was leaving Allen Rhodes for good. She went into the apartment she shared with Rhodes to get her stuff.
Stevens says he told her not to go inside, saying that Rhodes wouldn’t let her go so easily. He begged her to just come on and leave, he said. But Starlena wanted her stuff and she wanted to tell Rhodes he could go to hell and warm his toes, and she walked into the apartment.
When she walked back out, she was on fire.
With third degree burns over almost half of her body, Starlena sustained lung damage when she inhaled as the flames licked at her arms and chest. Stevens himself was burned trying to extinguish the flames, but wouldn’t get medical attention for his own burns. Instead, once the ambulance had arrived and taken Starlena to the hospital, David Stevens went to see Starlena’s mother, Marcia Chandler, to tell her what had happened.
A friend of the family found Stevens sobbing on Chandler’s front porch.
After spending a month in the hospital, Starlena Pratt had undergone surgery to try to save her arms. It didn’t work. The damage to her lungs wasn’t healing. Starlena wasn’t regaining consciousness, and she was taken off the ventilator, and then put back on it. Finally, on Wednesday, Marcia Chandler kissed her daughter goodbye and gently had the life support measures withdrawn.
Farley Allen Rhodes remains in the South Central Regional Jail in Charleston, where he is now charged with murder in addition to the assault charges for which he was already in custody. Rhodes is being held without bond.
SoUncool is discussing this topic in our forums – thanks!
Tags: abuse, Assault, Burning, Charleston, Domestic Violence, Murder, West Virginia
























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