SODDY-DAISY BURNING VICTIM PASSES AWAY
Angela Michelle Palacio, the Soddy Daisy woman intentionally set on fire inside a camper on Tuesday afternoon, died from her injuries after being airlifted to a Nashville hospital with third-degree burns covering 70 percent of her body.
The incident began around 2:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of Clift Eldridge Road when a neighbor called 911 to report a car and camper ablaze; responding firefighters from Dallas Bay, Soddy-Daisy, and Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Departments found the camper and nearby brush burning, along with Palacio severely injured.
Hamilton County EMS treated her on scene before she was flown via Erlanger LifeForce from a landing zone at Smith Cemetery Road and Hixson Pike. Investigators determined that 39-year-old Christopher Alan Medula had doused Palacio with gasoline and ignited her using a cigarette lighter, then tried to hold the camper door shut as she attempted to escape before fleeing.
Neighbor Steve Ellis witnessed the attack, intervened by tackling and detaining Medula at gunpoint—despite Medula claiming to be Jesus and briefly resisting—while shouting for others to cover the burning victim with a blanket; Ellis held Medula until deputies arrived. Palacio identified Medula as her attacker, and he later confessed to investigators, repeating that he “had to do it.”
Medula was arrested and charged with Aggravated Arson, Attempted First-Degree Murder, and Aggravated Assault; he remains in Hamilton County Jail awaiting a November 17 court appearance, with additional charges pending following Palacio’s death.
