GUILTY MI - Adam Shigwadja for attempted murder of 17yo girl, Kalamazoo, 2014

When Adam Shigwadja went to the home of his ex-girlfriend Monday night, he intended to light himself on fire, according to Kalamazoo County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Russell... Shigwadja hid under blankets in her room and when she entered, he jumped out with a knife. He doused himself and Putney-Wilcox with gasoline and set the room on fire, according to the assistant prosecutor.

Shigwadja was trying to force Putney-Wilcox into the flames when her brother came into the room, the prosecutor said... Putney-Wilcox said her brother swung a baseball bat at Shigwadja before he escaped from the second-floor window. Putney-Wilcox was accidentally struck with the bat during the scuffle.

She has a row of stitches along the top of her head and a black eye. "If it wasn't for this scar, I wouldn't be here," she said from the hospital, pointing to the stitches.

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Thursday, bond was formally denied for 18-year-old Adam Shigwadja. He was charged Thursday afternoon with assault with intent to murder, first-degree home invasion, and arson in the second-degree...

Testimony in court Thursday stated that Shigwadja held the bedroom door shut and during the ensuing confrontation stabbed Sophia in the chest with a knife. And the situation only escalated from there.

Testimony indicated that Shigwadja produced a bottle of gasoline, that he poured on himself and the door, as well as the floor around the bedroom as the family attempted to enter, and then lit the room on fire. "So he was grabbing me and trying to throw me into the fire with him, because he basically decided he wanted to die with me," Sophia said.

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Adam Shigwadja, 19, was sentenced to from 29 to 60 years in prison for home invasion and arson...

Court records show the victim had filed a personal protection order against Shigwadja in 2013 for stalking, but a judge denied that request.

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A ruling by Circuit Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet at Shigwadja's bench trial in August drew a criticism from Putney-Wilcox, as well as Lubwama after Lightvoet determined that while evidence showed Shigwadja broke into Putney-Wilcox's Kalamazoo home, cut her across the chest with a knife and set her bedroom on fire, he did not intend to kill her.

That led Lightvoet to find Shigwadja guilty of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm less than murder in place of assault with intent to commit murder, which carries a stiffer penalty...

Hagenian spoke to the crowd Monday at Bronson Park and opined that Lightvoet's ruling in the Shigwadja case was troubling and that some of Lightvoet's comments were "dangerous."

"It implies that the survivor is somehow complicit," Hagenian said. "Domestic violence is not a sign of love. The confusion of love with abuse is what allows abusers to kill."

In her ruling in August, Lightvoet sided with the contention of Shigwadja's defense attorney, Alan Koenig, that Shigwadja went to Putney-Wilcox's home on Sept. 15, 2014 intending to kill himself. Lightvoet spoke of more than 100 texts Shigwadja sent to Putney-Wilcox prior to the attack threatening her with his suicide and pining over unrequited love.

"Obviously, he very much loved her," Lightvoet said in August. "It went way overboard to a ridiculous number of texts and a ridiculous attempt to get her attention."

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