He Allegedly Tried to Run After Lighting Woman on Fire. Then a Neighbor Held Him at Gunpoint Until Deputies Arrived

A Tennessee woman was lit on fire by a man who allegedly attempted to flee the scene after a neighbor arrived to help the victim.

Angela Palacio, 58, succumbed to her injuries shortly after being airlifted to a Nashville hospital on Nov. 11 from her home in Soddy Daisy — a city located 20 miles north of Chattanooga.

When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Palacio lying in the driveway and covered in a blanket because all of her clothing had been burned off, according to an affidavit of complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

She was still coherent despite the fact that “severe burns were present on nearly 100% of her body” per the affidavit, and in between “labored breaths” was able to tell deputies “Chris did it.”

According to the affidavit, she told deputies “he poured gas on me,” adding that “he’s lost it.”

The search for the suspect did not take long, as Palacio’s neighbor, Steve Ellis, was just a few feet away holding 39-year-old Christopher Medula at gunpoint.

It was Ellis who called to report the incident, according to the affidavit.

He told deputies that he was in his camper when he heard a woman screaming, so he got in his truck to investigate the situation.

The affidavit stated that he then “observed Medula standing on the front patio, attempting to shut the door of the camper, and Palacio attempting to get out of the camper.”

Ellis told deputies that he approached Palacio’s camper and asked Medula to leave so that he could check on her, at which point the suspect took off. As Ellis got closer, he noticed smoke and saw that Palacio was covered in “burns and flames,” according to the affidavit.

After seeing Palacio’s injuries, Ellis told deputies that he instructed her to stay out of the camper and took off in pursuit of Medula.

Ellis eventually caught up with Medula, who was attempting to hide behind a tree, and held him at gunpoint so he could not leave the scene, according to the affidavit.

Medula allegedly made a number of comments to Ellis prior to deputies arriving on the scene, according to the affidavit, including: “I had to do it,” “she was poisoning the world,” “she’s the devil” and “I’m Jesus.”

Deputy Aaron Cameron later said that he gave Medula a Miranda warning at the scene before asking him about the origin of the fire, which the suspect allegedly said he started using a BIC lighter after he “poured gas on her.”

The affidavit also stated that while being interviewed later that day, Medula “admitted to dousing gas on the victim, Angela Palacio, lighting her on fire with a cigarette lighter, and then holding the door to her camper shut so she could not escape out of the camper.”

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Medula was initially charged with attempted murder because Palacio was still alive when the initial complaint was filed in court, but a member of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office tells PEOPLE that it will be upgraded to a first-degree murder charge.

The relationship between Medula and Palacio is still unclear, though the one of the last things the victim said to deputies was that the two were “friends.”

Medula has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2005, including previous convictions for assault, domestic assault, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE.

He avoided serving six years behind bars by receiving a suspended sentence in all of those cases. Most recently, an 11-month sentence was suspended after he pleaded guilty to aggravated criminal trespass on Oct. 6, court records show.