Minneapolis woman charged with murder, arson in downtown apartment fire
MINNEAPOLIS — A woman is accused of intentionally setting a downtown Minneapolis apartment on fire last August, killing two people, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County.
The 35-year-old woman from Minneapolis was charged on Monday with two felony counts of second-degree murder and three counts of first-degree arson for the Aug. 13, 2024, fire at an apartment complex on the 1500 block of 11th Avenue South.
Two days after the fire, following multiple sweeps by the department, a man and a woman were found dead inside. Four other people, including a teenager, were injured. About 30 people were displaced.
In December, investigators determined the fire had been intentionally set. Charges say there were two points of origin for the fire: one at the second level of the rear stairway and another on the second-floor hallway originating from a pair of pink rollerblades.
In one 911 call made during the fire, a second-floor apartment resident allegedly identified the person who set the fire. The resident said the suspect and her daughter had been outside his apartment, arguing with him and demanding to return of her belongings minutes before the fire, according to the complaint. The resident allegedly gave her back her possessions, which included a set of pink rollerblades.
Another resident of the same apartment unit told investigators they heard the woman say "I'm gonna burn this motherf***** down..." during the argument. Soon after she left, the resident reported smelling smoke.
Charges say a resident who lived across the hallway told police that minutes before the fire, he heard a woman say, "Give me my s*** back or I will burn this place down."
Security cameras allegedly captured the woman in both areas where the fires originated before leaving the apartment with a lit cigarette, wearing a blue rubber glove on her right hand — moments before the first reports of smoke and fire were made, according to the complaint.
During the investigation, officers learned the woman was a person of interest in other intentional fires involving the apartment resident she had been arguing with shortly before the fire.
In an interview with investigators, the woman denied being at the apartment building on the day it caught fire, adding she had not been there since July. When shown images of her and her daughter leaving the complex, the woman allegedly admitted she had been there and said her only knowledge of the fire was from the news and her sister, charges say.
A judge set the woman's bail at $1 million with conditions. Her next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26.
