On the morning of May 20, 2012, Nancy Judith Harris arrived at the Fina Whip-In convenience store in Garland, Texas, for her opening shift. She was 76 years old, a retired postal worker who had returned to part-time work at the store she had staffed for years, known to regular customers for her warm manner. That morning, her granddaughters were already making plans for their next "Nini Days" — the Friday tradition they kept, the dollar store trips and McDonald's runs they shared with the grandmother they called Nini.
Matthew Lee Johnson entered the store shortly after Harris began her shift. Surveillance footage captured what happened next: Johnson, then 36, moved behind the counter and poured a bottle of lighter fluid over Harris's head while demanding money. After she opened the cash register, he took bills, coins, her ring, two cigarette lighters, and some cigarettes. Then he ignited the lighter fluid.
Harris was engulfed in flames. She ran for the sink in the back, tried to remove her burning shirt, leaned over the basin — her shirt reignited. She ran outside, screaming. A nearby witness used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Police and paramedics found her with severe burns across her body. She was taken by helicopter to Parkland Memorial Hospital's burn unit in Dallas.
