With cruel intent, he set her ablaze, witnessing the flames consume her.
Her body was ravaged by burns covering 95 percent of her entire being. Tragically, nearly two years later, on June 27, 2017, she succumbed to her injuries.
Security camera footage captured the harrowing attack, including the moment when Slager retrieved a cigarette lighter from his truck.
Her mother, Bonnie Bowes, shared that Judy was resolute in her decision to testify and demonstrate that Michael had deliberately harmed her.
In an effort to appear more credible, she even chose to reduce her pain medication.
Malinowski recounted how Slager approached her while she was in a state of distress, tearfully pleading for assistance. She vividly remembered the horrifying instant when he ‘set her on fire’.
She testified: “After I was set on fire, he backed away, and his eyes just turned black.”
At that time, Malinowski had recently triumphed over opioid addiction, and her mother held reservations about her daughter’s new boyfriend, suspecting his intentions were not genuine.
Malinowski’s younger daughter helps John Kasich, the governor of Ohio at the time, sign “Judy’s Law” in 2017, shortly before her mother died.
After Malinowski’s passing, her family established a nonprofit organization called Judy’s Foundation. Its mission is to advocate for changes in federal laws regarding domestic violence.
In 2017, Ohio enacted “Judy’s Law” to protect individuals affected by domestic violence, representing Malinowski’s enduring legacy.
During Slager’s sentencing hearing in July 2018, a recording of Malinowski’s deposition was played. This occurred more than a year after her tragic passing. In a last-minute decision, Slager changed his plea from not guilty to guilty of aggravated murder.
As a result, he received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
“Judy had forgiven him, and it was rightfully her decision,” Bowes told Insider. “I know that she was hoping that he would somehow find God or figure out his way out of the darkness.”
In the documentary, Malinowski confronted Slager in court, “You really do seem like one of those people that have no soul, and you need to be incarcerated. That’s all I have to say.”
Her sister, Danielle Gorman, says in the documentary, “There was this part of her that wanted to make it and to live to fight for every other woman that had been through something like that.”
She definitely wanted the law to change. And she was willing to do whatever she needed to do to help change the law.”