Men set landlord’s house on fire while ‘innocent people slept inside,’ officials say
.png "Two men have pleaded guilty to arson charges after officials said they set a home on fire with three people inside.")
Two men pleaded guilty after Ohio officials said they set a home on fire with two adults, a baby and pets inside.
Tyric Green, 21, and D’Andre Morris, 22, were indicted on charges of attempted murder, aggravated arson, attempted aggravated arson, arson, cruelty to companion animals, forgery and possessing criminal tools, according to an April 29 news release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
Contact information for Green and Morris’ attorneys was not available.
According to officials, Green’s grandmother had been giving him rent money to pay their landlord, but Green was not paying it. The landlord did not receive rent payments for three months and contacted the grandmother, prosecutors said.
Green then forged a letter from the bank saying the money had been deposited, according to the release.
Then, on April 19, Green and Morris went to the landlord’s home in Cleveland and tried to set it on fire with “suspected ignitable liquid,” prosecutors said. However, they were unsuccessful, so they returned the next night and set the home on fire, officials said.
“Mr. Green lit fire to his grandmother’s landlord’s house at 2 a.m. while three innocent people slept inside, including a 7-month-old baby,” Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said in the release.
The 29-year-old woman, 26-year-old man and 7-month-old baby were able to escape the fire by jumping out of a second-floor window, officials said. However, their family dog, Salami, died in the home, prosecutors said.
“It is by the grace of God this family escaped this horrific fire,” O’Malley said in a Sept. 10 news release.
Video shared by WJW shows the home engulfed in flames. Cars in the driveway and neighbors’ houses also had fire damage, according to the outlet.
The fire resulted in over $750,000 in damages, officials said.
On Sept. 10, Green pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated arson, attempted aggravated arson, arson, cruelty against a companion animal, forgery and possessing criminal tools, according to court records.
Morris pleaded guilty Sept. 5 to aggravated arson, attempted aggravated arson, cruelty against a companion animal and possessing criminal tools, court records show.
They are set to be sentenced on Sept. 24, according to the release.
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Men set landlord’s house on fire while ‘innocent people slept inside,’ officials say."
