A Pomona man was charged today with the torture murder of the mother of his children during a domestic dispute on Christmas Day, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced.

Clarence Durell Dear (dob 1/11/64) is scheduled to be arraigned sometime today in Department N at the Pomona Branch of the Los Angeles County Superior Court in case No. KA111435. Prosecutors will ask that he be held without bail.

Deputy District Attorney Joy Roberts with the Arson Unit is prosecuting the case.

Dear is charged with dousing the 41-year-old victim, Dawn H., with a flammable liquid and setting her on fire. The incident occurred shortly before 2 p.m. Friday in the 1500 block of Cordova Street. The victim later died at a nearby hospital.

Dear is charged with one count of murder with the special circumstance of torture. He also is charged with one count of cruelty to a child, the couple's 12-year-old son.

The special circumstance makes Dear eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek death.

The case remains under investigation by the Pomona Police Department.

Los Angeles County District Attorney / case No. KA111435 / December 29, 2015