MILWAUKEE (TCN) — A woman allegedly set her father’s apartment on fire after he reportedly evicted her following an argument about money. About 150 building residents were evacuated and several were injured.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by WISN, police were called to an apartment building Jan. 13 after the Milwaukee Fire Department had extinguished a fire that originated from the apartment where Laquita Lashell Spears, 48, lived with her father, who has not been named.
The building reportedly houses mainly older residents with disabilities. Several of the building’s occupants were treated for smoke inhalation and many apartments sustained damage from water and fire, WISN reports.
Law & Crime reports the building is not equipped with sprinklers. According to WITI, the fire investigator said 150 residents of the building self-evacuated. The fire reportedly affected only one wing of the X-shaped building.
Spears’ father told authorities his daughter had been kicked out of a shelter two weeks earlier and he was allowing her to live with him. He reportedly said she was talking to herself frequently and on the day the fire started, she was arguing with him and cursing at him regarding $5 she believed she should have been given. He reportedly told Spears she couldn’t stay there anymore.
Law & Crime reports Spears allegedly squirted lighter fluid onto a jacket on the couch and ignited it with a lighter after yelling “Burn mother—er, burn!” She then left the apartment. WITI reports Spears said in her interview that she did not intend to hurt anyone and did not think the fire would spread so much. She reportedly saw the extent of the fire on the news and went to a shelter.
According to WITI, authorities tracked her down and arrested her on Jan. 16. Law & Crime reports she was booked on arson and reckless endangerment charges and is being held on a $50,000 bond. Her next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 26.
WDJT reports that this is Spears’ third arson charge; she was convicted in both 2015 and 2022.
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