Man To Stand Trial In Gasoline Death Of Woman In Motel Room
BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) — A Philadelphia man has been ordered to stand trial on charges including murder and arson for allegedly throwing a cup of gasoline on his girlfriend while she was smoking in a motel room, starting a fire that killed her after a dispute.
Forty-five-year-old Kevin Small kept muttering that the woman's death was a "tragic accident" as he left Wednesday's preliminary hearing.
But police testified surveillance video showed him pumping $1 worth of gasoline without a vehicle. Police say Small put the gas in a coffee cup before throwing it on 46-year-old Melissa Bacon-Smith on May 15.
The resulting fire badly damaged the Lincoln Motel in Bensalem, and Bucks County Deputy District Attorney Robert James added 42 reckless endangerment counts stemming from others endangered by the fire.
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