A man who terrorized his estranged wife by rubbing her with gasoline, firing his gun in her home and strangling her was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison.
Frank Ward Jr., 64, pleaded guilty to an eight-count indictment that included home invasion, burglary, three counts of aggravated assault – family violence, making terroristic threats, hindering a 911 call and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The attack took place at the victim’s Augusta home Feb. 12, 2022.
Prosecutor Randi Guillory told the court that Ward left the couple’s infant daughter alone on a bed in North Augusta to drive to Augusta and carry out the assault. During the incident, he rubbed gasoline on the victim’s body and strangled her. He also fired shots inside the home.
The victim was able to call 911 during the attack, but Ward ended the call. Deputies responding to the disconnected call heard the woman scream, “please don’t kill me,” followed by a gunshot. They kicked in the door and found Ward standing over the woman holding a gun, according to incident reports and body camera footage played during sentencing.
Guillory described Ward as a continuing threat to the community, stating, “This is larger than this incident.” She outlined his criminal record, which included convictions for bank robbery, kidnapping, robbery and making terroristic threats. In one incident, Ward allegedly told an unknown woman he was part of Al-Qaeda.
The victim, who addressed the court, asked Superior Court Judge Charles Lyons to give Ward the longest sentence possible. Ward had put a tracking device in her car and she had tried “every avenue” to get him to leave her along, she said.
Ward fired his private attorney last month and was represented at sentencing by public defender Caitlin Angelette. Angelette read a letter from Ward’s mother that described his father as abusive and noted that Ward owns a trucking company, supports his family and has a daughter graduating from Auburn University.
Ward told the court that his history of untreated depression provided “critical context” for the crimes. He offered to move to another state and said he would continue to support his young child.
Judge Lyons called the case “troubling” and “paradoxical,” pointing out that Ward left his child unattended while executing a premeditated attack involving gasoline and a firearm.
“I have no reason to believe his behavior will change just because he tells me so,” Lyons said, adding that he was “not good” with Ward leaving the state, citing his ongoing risk.
Lyons sentenced Ward to 10 years in prison each for the home invasion, burglary, and aggravated assault charges, to run concurrently. He added five years for making terroristic threats and 12 months for hindering a 911 call, also to run concurrently.
Ward received an additional 10 years for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, plus five years of probation, bringing the total sentence to 20 years in prison and five years on probation.
