JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Oct. 12, 2016, Darryl Whipple entered a crowded Golden Corral restaurant where his girlfriend worked, doused her with gasoline and set her on fire in front of dozens of horrified diners.

Carol Demmons, 56, sustained burns over 85% of her body and died about a month later at a burn unit at UF Health Gainesville.

Whipple, who sat outside the restaurant off Normandy Boulevard until Jacksonville police arrived to arrest him, avoided a possible death penalty Tuesday by pleading guilty to first-degree murder. Now 67, he was sentenced to life in prison.

The case drew criticism from family and domestic violence and mental health advocates because police had failed to arrest Whipple on a warrant for another incident with Demmons four months earlier.

He had a history of domestic violence and other arrests. His attorneys also filed a 90-page motion to bar the possibility of capital punishment due Whipple’s severe and documented mental illnesses.

In 2018 he was deemed incompetent to proceed to trial and committed to a state hospital diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol and cocaine abuse. After four years of treatment, he was ruled competent, setting the stage for more hearings and a possible trial.