A woman from Michigan has been arrested on suspicion that she set a house on fire that killed three people. Two of the victims are young children.
Driven by jealousy
According to the Associated Press, Abbieana Williams has been charged with murder and arson in connection to a fire that killed Aston Griffin, 8 years old, Jesse Kline IV, 4 years old, and their grandmother Melissa Westen on September 3 at Westen's home in Lansing.
The Lansing State Journal was able to obtain the arrest affidavit of Williams, and it states that the 21-year-old told the police that she did not set the house on fire. The house is at 1450 Elizabeth Street.
However, witness statements prove otherwise, as well as the messages on the suspect's phone. Additional evidence also strongly implicates that she caused the deaths of the three victims.
Though Williams denied being at the address on September 3, a friend told police that he drove her there and overheard the suspect making a threatening statement over the phone on the ride over. She allegedly said, "I hope your mama likes burning alive."
Also Read: Mother Finds Photos of Her Baby Daughter in Pedophile Website, Leads Movement to Shut Down Site
The friend told the police that Williams was angry at her boyfriend, Westen's son, because she believed he had cheated on her, according to the affidavit.
Williams sent a similar message in a text to her boyfriend the night the house was set on fire. She wrote, "I'm outside your mom's house...I hope your mom likes being burned alive," according to the affidavit.
Minutes before the home erupted in flames, and another witness said that Williams was in the immediate vicinity of the home.
The witness is a neighbor of Westen's and was the one who told the police that Williams asked them for a lighter and walked in the direction of Westen's home. In less than 4 minutes, the house was on fire.
The neighbor told the authorities that the lighter is distinctive and that he saw William's boyfriend with what appeared to be the same lighter after the fire. The report does not indicate when or where the neighbor encountered the suspect's boyfriend with the lighter.
The affidavit also alleges that Williams was captured on surveillance video walking back and forth on Elizabeth street between 11: 25 p.m and 11:38 p.m. The fire department received a call about the house fire at 11:45 p.m.
According to the report, the police initially believed that the fire had not been intentionally set, but further evidence collected during the investigation pointed to arson. WLNS reported that Williams remains in custody.
Similar case
In August 2019, a woman had set a man's house on fire after he invited her to his house for a one-night stand. He fell asleep and did not hear her at his door, according to The Independent.
The suspect, Taija Russell, sent a series of text to the man before going to a gas station and buying lighter fluid, matches, and lighter. She then set the house in Woodbury, New Jersey, ablaze.
The house was destroyed, and the victim, who was not named, only managed to escape by physically removing a window frame and climbing through the opening.
