NAPLES, FL - July 1, 2020 - According to an online news report posted on USNews.com and NaplesNews.com, the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrested a 17-year-old teenage boy from southwest Florida for allegedly setting a home on fire that killed a woman. According to the Collier County Sheriff's Office arrest report, the 17-year-old teenager was arrested and has been charged with arson and murder.
The Naples Daily News stated that Collier County Sheriff's Office deputies reported that when they responded to a home fire, they found the home was completely engulfed with flames. The Collier County Sheriff's Office investigation discovered a body inside the home. A Collier County medical examiner concluded that the woman's fatal injuries were consistent with the type of fatal injuries associated with fire, according to the teenager's arrest report. The victim's name has not been released.
Investigators reviewed surveillance video from a nearby Circle K gas station. The video showed the 17-year-old teenager purchasing gasoline and a gas can. The video also shows the teen arriving at the Circle K in a white taxi at around 11:13 p.m. A neighbor told Collier County Sheriff's deputies that she came home around 10 p.m. on Monday and that she went to bed. At 11:30 p.m., the woman stated that there was a white car in her driveway, and the teen was not inside his bedroom. The woman stated that said she heard the doors to her house open and close, and then she heard the sound of someone inside her home. Another resident of the house, who was unidentified in the teen's police arrest report, stated that she smelled a strong odor of gasoline, and she opened her bedroom door, and she was struck with a massive wall of fire, the arrest report states. The woman then stated that she dropped to the floor, and she crawled out of the burning home.
When Collier County Sheriff's Office deputies talked to the teenager, the Sheriff's deputies could smell the gasoline on the teen boy, according to the arrest report. The boy consented to talk further with Collier County Sheriff's deputies, and the teen was taken into custody and questioned by the deputies.
The 17-year-old male from Naples, Florida, who was taken into police custody, was questioned by investigators and then the teen was formally accused of starting the house fire that resulted in the death of a woman sleeping inside the home. The house fire occurred in the Golden Gate Estates neighborhood located in the 5300 block of 24th Avenue SW. According to the Collier County Sheriff's arrest report, the boy has been charged with three felony charges, including murder and arson.