Florida teen arrested after allegedly setting house on fire to kill friend as family of four inside makes lucky escape, bodycam footage reveals shocking details; watch video here
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Florida teen arrested after allegedly setting house on fire to kill friend as family of four inside makes lucky escape, bodycam footage reveals shocking details; watch video here
A 14-year-old Florida teen was arrested and charged with attempted murder and arson after allegedly setting fire to a home with a family of four asleep inside. The suspect admitted that he tried to kill a friend. All occupants escaped unharmed. Deputies found an open 5-gallon propane tank near the front door of the home, along with a “homemade Molotov cocktail.
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A horrifying incident surfaced in Florida where a teenager was facing charges after being arrested for allegedly trying to kill a friend by setting fire to a house while a family of four was asleep inside. According to police, the 14-year-old admitted that he was attempting to kill his friend.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) and the Lehigh Acres Fire Department responded to a report of a residential fire on the 300 block of Paisley Avenue in Lehigh Acres at around 6 a.m. local time on Saturday, January 3, 2026, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post on Monday, January 5, 2026.
Deputies discover incendiary devices on the scene
Following their arrival on the scene, deputies found an open 5-gallon propane tank near the front door of the home, along with a “homemade Molotov cocktail,” according to the Facebook post. “Four occupants inside the home were able to escape through a window and were not injured,” the LCSO said.
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Probe unearths key details
An investigation was launched into the matter, and multiple witnesses told investigators that the suspect, identified as Maikol Estrada Gomez, was parked down the street and briefly made contact with the victims, asking what had happened before leaving the area.
Gomez arrested and charged
The suspect was located and arrested at his home, where he admitted to transporting the propane tank, using a gas-filled bottle to ignite the fire, and attempting to kill an occupant inside the home.
According to LCSO’s Facebook post, Gomez was charged with four counts of attempted felony murder, arson, occupied burglary, making a destructive device, and possession or use of a weapon. He has been released to the Department of Juvenile Justice for secure detention.
The LCSO’s Facebook post also included body-cam footage of deputies and firefighters responding to the scene of the fire. The propane tank and the home’s burned front door were also seen in the footage.
Victim family speaks on the incident
Dubbing the incident a “traumatic moment,” Namiry Enrique Alvarez told local outlet 13 News, “It was a very traumatic moment. Even now, two days later, I still can’t sleep, and neither can they because you relive everything that happened, and you’re afraid it’s going to happen again, which keeps you from sleeping,” said Alvarez through a translator.
She stated that the 14-year-old boy allegedly set their Lehigh Acres home on fire around 6 a.m. Saturday (January 3, 2025). Fortunately, none of the four family members sustained injuries. They had to escape through a window, as the fire blocked their front door.
According to the outlet, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said the 14-year-old suspect allegedly told investigators that he started the fire in an attempt to kill his teenage friend, Alvarez’s son.
“This is a juvenile that’s committing a tremendous, horrifying act—trying to kill four people in a residence. It’s sad to me that things got this way, but I’m very thankful that the result is nobody’s hurt, and our suspect is off the streets and charged,” Marceno said.
Shocking video shows cops arrest ‘very sick’ man, 92, for rape, murder of woman nearly 60 years ago: ‘Where are you getting all this from?’
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This was the moment a shocked 92-year-old man was arrested at his home for a murder carried out nearly 60 years before.
Police body camera footage captured Ryland Headley being detained for the murder of Louisa Dunne in what was Britain’s oldest cold case review.
A trial into the killing of the 75-year-old in Bristol on 27 June 1967 remains ongoing.
But after it was shown to the jury, Avon and Somerset Police have released a video, which is the first images of the defendant.
In footage, a startled-looking Headley asks cops: “Where are you getting this from?” as he is arrested.
The video starts with officers turning up to his home in Ipswich, Suffolk, and asking if Headley can open up his door.
He responds by asking, “Who are you?” and then, when told it’s the police states, “No, no. You can’t come now. What do you want to come in for?”
The female police officer adds: “I’ll explain, because it’s a bit sensitive so we’d like to come in to speak to you properly please. ”
Headley tells cops: “I’ve just got up and I’m very sick. I’m very sick. Not well at all.”
The startled defendant then asks: “What is this about?”
The officer responds: “I’ll tell you inside because we don’t want other people hearing. So can we just come inside and get you seated?”
A second officer is heard telling him: “I’m here today because I’m arresting you on suspicion of the rape and murder of Louisa Dunne, which happened in Bristol, in June 1967.
“The reason I’m arresting you is because the police have investigative material that indicates that you were responsible for that rape and murder of Mrs. Dunne, which happened at Britannia Road in eastern Bristol, June 1967.”
Throughout, Headley repeats ‘yeah’ at regular intervals.
The officer then reads him his rights and Headley adds: ” Wait, wait. Where are you getting all this from?”
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The officer states: “We have investigative information, so we have material that suggests that it is yourself and we need to arrest you and take you into custody so we can conduct an interview with you.
“So we can hear your events and interview you about it.”
The trial heard Louisa’s body was found by neighbors the next morning after the attack, but in the decades that followed no one was brought to justice over her death, Bristol Crown Court heard.
Her skirt, along with other items from the scene, were kept in storage and were recently reexamined to try and make a breakthrough.
Jurors have been told there is “extremely strong” scientific evidence to suggest semen samples found on the skirt came from her alleged murderer.
Giving evidence, a forensic scientist told jurors that recent direct DNA matches linking semen samples from Mrs. Dunne’s pubic hair and the blue skirt suggested they were “one billion times” more likely to have come from Headley than from anyone else.
An earlier statement from pathologist Dr. Albert Hunt, who carried out Mrs. Dunne’s autopsy revealed the cause of her death as asphyxiation due to strangulation and pressure on the mouth.75
What do you think? Post a comment.
Headley, of Ipswich, Suffolk, denies raping and murdering Ms. Dunne in June 1967.
The trial continues.
