KALAMAZOO, Mich. – It was an attack that left a teenage girl in west Michigan with cuts, head injuries and burnt hair.
Her ex-boyfriend is now facing charge, including assault with intent to murder, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison.
Adam Shigwardja sat motionless while the magistrate read the charges, saying few words when questioned.
He is also facing counts of home invasion and arson.
Prosecutors asked that bond be denied, not only because Shigwardja poses a threat to his victim, Sophia Putney Wilcox and her family, but also to himself.
“It’s my understanding, again, he allegedly indicated to the police that he went to the home of the victim to kill himself by pouring the gasoline on his person and lighting himself on fire while in the front yard of the victim’s home,” said Kalamazoo County assistant prosecutor Greg Russell.
Bond was denied.
When the hearing concluded, Shigwardja was carried away on a wheelchair, possibly recovering injury from an injury he suffered the night of the incident.
FOX 17 obtained the probable cause, where investigators laid out their case for a warrant and detailed more of what they believe happened on Sept. 15.
That’s when officers in Kalamazoo responded to a home along Prospect Dr. after a call about a fire and a possible assault.
According to testimony delivered to a judge, when officers arrived in the area, they were flagged down by the victim’s mother who said she was driving her badly injured daughter to the hospital.
Putney Wilcox’s mother told police her daughter was attacked by her ex-boyfriend after he broke into the family’s home.
Investigators say Putney Wilcox told them Shigwardja was hiding under her sheets before he jumped out and held her at knifepoint.
Later, when her family tried to enter her room, Putney Wilcox was stabbed in the chest.
A KDPS detective also told the judge it was at that point Shigwardja tried to start a fire.
“He then produced a bottle of gasoline, which he poured on himself and the door and the floor around the bedroom. As the family attempted to enter the room, he lit the fire.”
Before long, family was able to get inside the fiery room.
“He then held the victim until the victim’s brother fought through the flames with a baseball bat,” said the officer. “The victim’s brother then began to strike Mr. Shigwardja with the baseball bat in an attempt to rescue his sister. Unfortunately, during the striking with the baseball bat, he hit his sister.”
Putney Wilcox told investigators Shigwardja eventually jumped from the second story window and took off.
A spokeswoman from Bronson Hospital told FOX 17 the victim was listed in good condition today.
As for Shigwardja, he’s scheduled to be back in court Oct. 1.
