The Andrea Grinage Story: Set on Fire and Left For Dead at 7 Months Pregnant

20 August 2018

Imagine being in a relationship, 7 months pregnant and in love with some who you would never think would hurt you. Now, imagine one day being 7 months pregnant, told to get into a tub, being doused with lighter fluid and set a blaze. Fighting, not only for your life but your unborn childs’… being able to call out for help while your on fire and running out of your home in a state of shock to get help for you and your child. That is what this courageous woman did, her name is Andrea Grinage, an that is her story. She doesn’t hide her scars , but instead wears them as a badge of honor, as she should. She’s a survivor!

She was left with burns on over 70 percent of her body and had given birth to her daughter two months early. And here we are less than 30 days from the anniversary date,  and her attacker, Laquinn Phillips, has been charged with attempted murder. The trial was set for Tuesday, however, the judge pushed the date to December, while awaiting the results of a DNA test. In addition to waiting longer for justice, Andrea now has to deal with the judges decision to also grant her attacker house arrest with an ankle monitor and his mother has to install a landline in the house to monitor him. How is that even possible!? He could be out within a matter of days.

According to her family, she started to get a protective order against Phillips when he set her on fire, so what will an ankle monitor do? They bring up a valid point, this person wanted this woman and her baby dead, how will house arrest stop him from completing what he started? According to the CDC, nearly half of American women deaths are related to intimate partner violence. Think about that…

Not only does Andrea have to live with this memory and the scars, but now she has to be tormented by the fact that her attacker is out. Is house arrest supposed to make her feel safe? Is house arrest going to keep him from taunting her? Is house arrest going to stop her from reliving that horrible day? No, it wont! This is no longer a case of domestic violence, but a clear case of double-attempted murder. So how is it that the accused is be granted such leniency, when he did not show that mercy to his victims?

No caliber of justice (if it had actually prevailed) can fill in the cracks and retrieve the lost parts of her but in a world where her emotions, her nightmares, her trauma and her voice went unheard, justice in no sense has done anything to help her cause. In better words, the push of the trial date and his “monitored” release brings her closer to fear than closure, with constant reminders of the painful past, the about turn of her future and that one fateful night she almost lost everything, brushing inches close to just not her death but the little life force she carried inside her with pride and joy for months. The very life she co-created with her once lover turned murderer.

This woman was robbed, robbed of her life, robbed of her flawlessness, robbed of her inner peace, robbed of peaceful nights, family Christmases, afternoon walks, chats on the phone with her friends 'cause now everyone she meets remembers to let her not forget, with those painful stares, whispers, stuttering when they meet and greet her, not knowing how to talk to her and treating her like a fragile blubbering mess. She was robbed of her normality and basic human rights. And most of all she was robbed of love, the worst kind of betrayal and the best kind of lies, this monster lead her to believe he loved her only to set about to destroy her.

All she's got for company are her uneasy thoughts, which is deepening with the idea that the very demon firing her thoughts could stalk her, sneak up on her around a dark alleyway and the one day she opens her door, she would find him, instead of the postman, nose to nose with a cruel smirk on his devilish face.

Her tears and screams you never hear or see are real. They can never be wiped away.
Feel her pain to help her get the closure she deserves.
She is one of us, a woman like you and me, a living breathing girl sitting in Starbucks sipping a latte, hanging out at the mall with her girls, playing tennis on the weekends, she could be any one of us.
Raise a fist and a voice to help Andrea find justice.

If you are as outraged as we are, and you want to do something to stop this monstrosity. Please write and send your letter to:

Honorable Michael Pearson
14735 Main Street, Suite B2043
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

Follow the #dreastrong and @dsthemovement


3 comments

  1. This woman is amazing. I know her sister much better, but here son is a student-athlete at the school I work at. I had the pleasure of meeting her face-to-face over the summer. Beautiful, friendly and strong. And her son is a wonderful example of the parent she is. This is outrageous. I pray for peace and justice for her.

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  2. We completely agree Jennifer! Thank you for reading and spreading the word, but most importantly, showing your support.

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  3. I agree that this is in no way fair to her, but it was only pushed back because the DNA has not been processed by the lab. Yes...we know he did it, yes we want him to pay for his crime...but the fact of the matter is innocent until proven guilty. They could not hold him without having all evidence being processed. My dad worked at the PG States Attorney Office at the time Yvette Cade got set on fire, and he helped her through her process. I say all that to say you can't hold it against the judge because ultimately he has a job to do, and they cannot hold him in a jail cell until his court date in December. I pray for her safety and her family's safety.

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