CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) – Family and friends of a South Bay mother are gathering after she was set on fire at the supermarket where she works.

Amanda Buchanan, 45, is a manager at 7-Eleven on Broadway and L in Chula Vista.

She was at work on Saturday morning when her ex-boyfriend ambushed her, according to her family.

Her son, Dominic Rivera, viewed surveillance video from the store on Monday afternoon.

“She didn’t see him come in. When he came in, she had just turned around to go to the bathroom. He rushed in with a can of gasoline, poured it on her, they got into a scuffle and then he set her on fire,” Rivera said.

Buchanan’s colleague tried to extinguish the flames but suffered severe burns.

When the fire department arrived, the woman was already outside, but Buchanan was inside and unable to move.

“The owner of the neighboring store came in with the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. It burned for a total of forty seconds,” Rivera said.

Police arrested Jose Villanueva in Redlands on Saturday. Buchanan’s friends say the two started dating in November 2022, but she tried to get away from him.

Rivera lives in Idaho and had no idea his mother was struggling.

“I don’t know if she was just trying to protect herself or me, because she talked really well about him and said he was a great guy and she praised him so it seemed like I had nothing to fear, while behind closed doors there was a lot of fear,” Rivera said.

Villanueva has a violent past. He is in prison and faces more than a dozen crimes, including attempted murder, torture and arson.

“I think the most important thing I can learn from this, and what everyone can learn from this, is not to hide it in the dark, but to let people know what’s going on because you never know what’s going to happen,” Rivera said.

Rivera said his mother lived a simple life.

“She went to work, did her thing, and after work she liked to go out with her friends, to bingo, to the casino and things like that,” Rivera said.

Rivera said Villanueva was fired from the store and is living homeless in Chula Vista.

The family will meet with doctors on Tuesday morning to decide what happens next for his mother.

“Like any woman, they like to dress up, make themselves look good, look good. My mother will not be able to do all these things, especially because over 80% of her body is burned. She doesn’t even have enough skin for skin grafts,” Rivera said.

Villanueva is due in court on Wednesday. Rivera said he plans to attend the hearing.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t like this guy, but my mother always tried to protect him,” Rivera said.