A woman is charged with murder following a fire at this Waterloo house in April.
A Waterloo woman is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with a deadly house fire in the city earlier this year.
Forty-one-year-old Denise O’Brien is accused of starting an April 22nd fire at 536 Dawson Street that killed 32-year-old Ashley Smith and her 9-year-old son, Jaykwon Sallis. Three others escaped the burning two-story home. Investigators later determined an accelerant was used to start the deadly fire.
Waterloo police say O’Brien has been in jail since the day after the fire when she was arrested for violating a no-contact order. Police claim O’Brien admitted to being involved in an argument at the home on April 21, the night before the deadly fire. The murder charges against O’Brien were filed on Monday.
(By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Waterloo)