Family and friends gathered Sunday evening for the two women who were severely injured in a fire at a South Bay 7-Eleven.
"I'm kind of numb with emotions," said Dominic Rivera, one of the victim's sons.
At approximately 8 a.m. on Saturday, officers responded to a fire at the 7-Eleven in Chula Vista on 899 Broadway. Once they arrived, they found a woman with burn injuries leaving the store and then heard another person inside who also suffered burn injuries. That woman had to be pulled out as she was unable to move on her own, CVPD Sgt. Anthony Molina said.
Both victims, who were identified as 7-Eleven employees, were taken to a hospital.
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Fire crews managed to extinguish the fire. Sgt. Molina said no customers were in the store at the time of the fire and no other people were injured.
Dominic's mother, identified by him as Amanda Buchanan, suffered potentially life-threatening burns from the fire.
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"I went and visited my mom today and I could hardly look at her and hardly even recognize her," he said. "These are like some serious traumatic injuries and her body was pretty much burned a little over 80% so even if they were to do skin grafts her body doesn’t have enough skin to complete all of the skin graphs."
The other victim did suffer serious injuries but it is not believed to be life-threatening, officials said.
According to investigators, Jose Carlos Villanueva, 47, is believed to be responsible for the fire. Based on initial evidence, it is believed Villanueva used a flammable liquid before lighting the fire.
He is in custody after being arrested in Redlands.
Villanueva is being charged with 16 multiple felonies including first-degree attempted murder, torture and arson.
Buchanan's closest friend and roommate for 10 years says she kept a polished appearance at 44 years old and may have paid dearly for it.
"His intentions were to leave her faceless, useless, dead," Alma Ogden told NBC 7 on Monday. "He wanted to take that away from her so that no one else would look at her. I really believe he wanted to kill her."
Ogden spoke with NBC 7 over the weekend about the difficult breakup of Buchanan and Villanueva.
"For the last six months she was trying to leave this guy," Ogden said. "She was in a relationship with him since November of 2022, but I never really took to him. I always thought he was a bad person. There were a lot of factors and there were a lot of red flags."
Ogden says three times Buchanan broke up with Villanueva over the last six months, adding that he stalked her at home and work and that he used apps and burner phones to text and call so she would pick up.
"He was texting her, and she was blocking him, and he kept texting her from other numbers and harassing her," Ogden said.
On Sunday, family and friends of the victims gathered at the scene of the crime to hold a vigil for their loved ones.
The group prayed and spoke about their heartfelt memories with Buchanan.
“I want to be with her every step of the way. I just want her to know I’m always going to be by her side,” Rivera said.
Villanueva is expected in court on Wednesday to be arraigned.
If you are a victim or know someone who is a victim of domestic violence, click here for domestic violence resources in San Diego County and here for the Spanish version. Victims can also call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
