Man Dies After Setting Himself On Fire On Facebook Live In View Of Ex-Girlfriend
A Tennessee musician died after dousing himself in kerosene and lighting himself on fire, according to local authorities. The event was streamed on Facebook Live.
The Memphis Police Department told FOX13 Saturday that local musician Jared McLemore, 33, set himself on fire in an effort to commit suicide on Facebook Live. Shortly after he set himself on fire, he ran into a neighboring bar where his ex-girlfriend Alyssa Moore was working. He was reportedly rushed to a local hospital in critical condition for severe burns and later died from his injuries.
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Witnesses said the incident occurred around 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning. At least one individual could be seen attempting to intervene during the Facebook Live feed before McLemore burst into flames and ran out view of the video.
Upon McLemore entering Murphy’s bar in midtown Memphis, a number of patrons reportedly attempted to put out the flames with their shirts, local news station WREG reported Saturday.
“It looked like a movie, like someone wearing a flame-retardant suit,” local musician Kimberly Koehler, who was playing a show at the bar, told WREG.
Koehler’s bandmate and boyfriend Jim Duckworth, who was also present, told WREG that an “overwhelming smell of kerosene filled the room.” He added, “Before you see anything, the smell filled the room.”
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McLemore reportedly had a history of domestic violence against Moore, who works as an audio engineer and owns a recording studio. WREG reported that court records indicate McLemore was arrested in August 2016 after strangling Moore and threatening to kill her on two different occasions in a 24-hour period. He was placed on probation in April and ordered to undergo mental evaluations. It’s not clear whether McLemore complied with the order.
According to a GoFundMe page for Moore — which had raised more than $13,000 over its initial goal of $6,300 by Sunday — the gig was her first time back to work since an altercation with McLemore just a week before during which he allegedly “threatened her with a gun.”
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