Life Sentence Upheld for Defendant Who Set Neighbor on Fire

The life sentence imposed against a defendant who accepted responsibility for committing heinous crimes against two women was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Nov. 25.

Carleous Clay kidnapped his neighbor, Diane Pranske, robbed her, strangled her, set her on fire, and left her for dead. She survived.

While in jail awaiting trial, Clay entered the office of case worker Leticia Martinez, threatened to kill her, threw her on the floor, straddled her, grabbed her by the hair, and pressed a homemade knife to her throat.

Clay pleaded guilty to kidnapping and using fire to commit a felony in Pranske’s case, ...