An 84-year-old Oakland Park man faces premeditated attempted murder charges after he allegedly doused the inside of a vehicle with gasoline and set it on fire while his ex-partner of 42 years sat beside him, Broward County authorities say.
Franklin Davis appeared in a Broward County courtroom Monday in a wheelchair, a bandage wrapped around his left ear and another on his right hand, burns he sustained, authorities say, from the very fire he is accused of starting. A judge denied bond. Davis now sits in the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale awaiting trial on charges that could put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
The charges, premeditated attempted murder, arson causing bodily harm, and criminal attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy to commit a capital felony, stem from a Friday confrontation in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Oakland Park. The woman, whose name has not been released, told investigators she believed Davis meant to "burn her up" inside the vehicle before she managed to escape, the New York Post reported, citing the Broward County Sheriff's Office account.
The couple had just recently ended a relationship that lasted roughly 42 years. On Friday, the two were parked at the Oakland Park convenience store when an argument broke out. Davis had been drinking.
During the dispute, Davis allegedly produced a bottle filled with gasoline. He doused the dashboard and front seats, then set the interior alight, with both of them still inside the car, CBS News Miami reported.
The woman escaped. She suffered third-degree burns to her left leg. Davis burned his own hands and face. Both were treated at local hospitals.
The aftermath told its own story. WPLG reported that the 7-Eleven parking lot remained charred days later. Nearby signs had melted from the heat.
Forty-two years is longer than most marriages. Whatever the couple shared over those decades ended "just recently," and the breakup appears to have set the sequence in motion. The woman ended the relationship. Days or perhaps hours later, the two were together in a parked car, arguing, and Davis allegedly reached for a gasoline-filled bottle.
That detail alone raises questions the public record has not yet answered. Where did the bottle come from? Did Davis bring it to the scene, or was it already in the vehicle? The charging documents have not been made public, and no arrest affidavit has surfaced in available reporting. Davis's blood alcohol level at the time of the incident has not been disclosed.
Whether Davis has retained legal counsel, and whether any attorney has spoken on his behalf, remains unknown.
The three charges Davis faces are severe. Premeditated attempted murder in Florida is a first-degree felony. Arson causing bodily harm carries its own weight. The third count, criminal attempt, solicitation, and conspiracy to commit a capital felony, signals that prosecutors view the alleged conduct as among the most serious categories of criminal offense under state law.
The judge's decision to deny bond underscores the gravity of the case. Davis, 84 and visibly injured, will remain behind bars as the case moves forward. No future court date has been announced publicly.
The condition of the unnamed woman beyond her initial hospital treatment has not been disclosed. Third-degree burns, the most severe classification, destroy the full thickness of the skin and can require extensive medical intervention, including surgery and long-term rehabilitation.
Several gaps in the public record stand out. The type of vehicle involved has not been identified. The specific hospitals where both parties were treated have not been named. The identity of the presiding judge has not been released. And the full scope of the charging documents, including whether the capital felony referenced in the conspiracy count is specified, remains unclear.
None of those gaps change the core facts as described by the Broward County Sheriff's Office: a man allegedly set a car on fire with his ex-partner inside, in broad daylight, in a convenience store parking lot.
Cases like this test the system at every level. An 84-year-old defendant in a wheelchair draws a certain kind of sympathy. But the woman who crawled out of a burning car with third-degree burns deserves more of it. She spent more than four decades with this man. Her reward, if the charges hold, was a gasoline fire in a parking lot.
Broward County prosecutors have brought serious charges. The judge denied bond. So far, the system is treating this case with the weight it deserves. The question now is whether it follows through.
A 42-year relationship ended, and a woman nearly burned alive. The law exists for moments exactly like this one.
