A seventh grader was arrested on premeditated murder charges after he tried to murder another boy and his family in their home. After getting into a fight, one of the boys went to the other boy’s house in the middle of the night and set four fires, and he added a propane tank and lawn chairs as fuel to one of them:
A 13-year-old boy faces an attempted premeditated murder charge, as well as arson and burglary charges.
Ethan Marsh-Hual was taken to a Florida Department of Juvenile Justice facility following his March 17 arrest by the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office.
According to his report, the boy, who is in the 7th grade, intentionally set one fire in another family’s garage and three other fires on their fence, an electrical box and a screen door. The boy’s parents told investigators he’d told them what he did.
Four victims were home at the time of the fire, but were not injured. A child in the house woke up her father, who used a fire extinguisher and then a garden house to put the garage fire out. .
The boy’s parents allowed him to be interviewed by authorities on video camera. During the interview, Marsh-Hual told them that he and a boy who lived in the house he’d attempted to burn had been friends but had gotten in a fight. The fight involved one of the boys throwing up on the other boy’s mailbox and apparently both boys talking and laughing about the other boy at school, the report said.
The boys had hung out the day of the fire, playing video games and riding bikes. Marsh-Hual said he could tell the other boy was getting upset toward the end of the day because his face was getting red. He said he knew a fight was going to “pop up.
He said he went home at 7 p.m. for dinner, but set his alarm for midnight. After his alarm went off, he went back to the other boy’s house and, at one point, started four fires, including one in the garage that he fueled by putting a propane tank on it, as well as some lawn chairs.
After he was done, he said he took off running and then made his way back to his own home, where he washed his hands and face before going to bed.
The investigator asked him if he cared that other people in the house could have died. His answer was redacted from the report. (source)