Blackman
LIMA — A Lima woman who admitted to police she started a fire on the porch of a city residence without thinking about the possible fate of four residents inside the dwelling has been indicted by an Allen County grand jury on four counts of aggravated arson, felonies of the first degree.
Markiesha Blackman, 29, was charged in connection with an incident that began on the morning of Nov. 22 when emergency personnel responded to the report of a house fire at 125 W. O’Connor Avenue.
Lima police were the first to arrive at the scene and neighbors told officers there were several people in the house, according to court records. Patrolman Logan Patton located the primary resident of the dwelling, who advised him there were a total of four occupants inside the house. All escaped the home safely, although one resident was forced to jump from a second-floor window.
Police were advised that Blackman was in the home prior to the fire and that she was the one who had intentionally started the blaze on an enclosed back porch, court documents show.
Police located Blackman in the area and a neighbor identified her as the person seen fleeing from the house immediately before smoke could be seen coming from the rear of the residence. Blackman was taken into custody.
Questioned at the LPD, the woman reportedly told police she was angry because of a physical altercation earlier that day with two occupants of the home and, in an effort to exact revenge, she stacked some boxes on the porch and lit them on fire.
Blackman claimed she didn’t think about the fact that the fire could seriously hurt or kill the occupants of the home, according to court documents.
