A woman from Mississippi has been convicted of setting her former partner ablaze, later attempting to convince authorities that he accidentally “fell into the fireplace while holding a bottle of lighter fluid.” In a bid to support her story, she even changed his clothes before contacting emergency services, as stated by prosecutors.

Madison County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett described the victim’s injuries as some of the most “horrific and severe” his office has encountered. This statement accompanied the announcement of Kalena Stubbs’ sentencing on Wednesday, where she was handed the maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for aggravated assault, as detailed in a press release.

Stubbs admitted her guilt to the felony charge and received the full extent of the sentence permissible under the law, according to Bramlett.

Although the ex-boyfriend survived the horrific incident, his injuries are expected to impact him permanently, Bramlett noted. “We hope this sentence provides him with some sense of justice,” he added in the statement.

Prosecutors reported that on January 16, Stubbs contacted the police, claiming that her ex-boyfriend had “fallen into the fireplace” at his residence in Madison County.

“When they arrived at the victim’s home, they discovered the victim was severely burned all over his torso, upper arms, and face,” Bramlett’s press release says. “Investigators immediately noticed that his clothes were not burned and questioned Stubbs about it. She admitted that she changed his clothes before calling 911.”

Officers noted that there was an open bottle of lighter fluid on a mantel that “did not appear to have come into contact with an open flame” and “immediately began to suspect Stubbs was responsible,” per the release.

The victim was airlifted from the scene to a local hospital. He spent months in out-of-state burn units and nursing homes while trying to recover from third-degree burns covering his entire upper body, according to Bramlett.

“When he finally regained his ability to speak, he indicated that Stubbs had doused him with lighter fluid and set him on fire while they were arguing,” the release says. “This was consistent with the burn locations and patterns on his body.”

Stubbs has been ordered to serve her sentence in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. She must serve all 20 years.