Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jermaya Lavaghn Richardson, 32, was arrested last night for intentionally setting her apartment on fire.

Click here for photos from the fire department.

At about 10:45 p.m. on August 19, a Gainesville Police Department officer spoke to a witness who said she was married to Richardson and lives with Richardson at Camelot Apartments (3425 SW 2nd Avenue). The witness said she had received a text message from a second witness that said, “Emergency,” and when she called the second witness, a relative of Richardson’s, the second witness said Richardson had intentionally set their apartment on fire. The first witness said she rushed home and saw smoke coming from the apartment and the building being evacuated.

The officer called the second witness, who lives in another state; the second witness said she was on a video call with Richardson and was trying to calm her down because Richardson was angry with the first witness. The second witness said Richardson told her she was going to “set this place on fire” and flipped the camera to show the witness a mattress that was on fire. The second witness said she did not see how Richardson started the fire, but Richardson was the only person in the apartment at the time because the first witness was at work. The second witness said she quickly hung up and contacted the first witness.

The officer found Richardson standing in the parking lot, and post Miranda, Richardson reportedly said she was angry with the first witness for not coming straight home after work, and she kicked her television to the floor in frustration. She said that the television began sparking, so she left the apartment because she was afraid a fire would start. However, Richardson also reportedly said she had been on a video call with the second witness, and “whatever [the second witness] said happened is what happened.”

A fire investigator arrived and reported that the fire started in a mattress in Richardson’s bedroom; he estimated that the damage to Richardson’s apartment and two neighboring apartments was about $200,000.

Richardson has been charged with three counts of arson of a dwelling. She has a criminal history in Georgia, including an active warrant, and an unspecified federal criminal history; she has one local felony conviction for grand theft of a motor vehicle. She was arrested in February for breaking a neighbor’s window at Gardenview Apartments because of a suspicion that her partner was being unfaithful, but the charges were later dropped. Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing. Judge Miller-Jones also prohibited her from returning to Camelot Apartments.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.