13-year-old girl accused of trying to murder her family by fire -- four times
For a school photo, a certain Jefferson County eighth-grader wore a cheerleading shirt. But right now, neither she nor her family has anything to cheer about.
Bigger pic below.
The thirteen-year-old is currently in custody, accused of trying to kill the other six members of her family by burning down their home -- not just once, but four separate times.
According to 7News, flames first entered the picture on April 21, when a grass fire began to burn near a Myers Gulch Road rental property where the family lived at the time.
This conflagration was hardly an isolated incident. The next day, a fire started on the home's back deck. Firefighters were able to douse it. But then, a short time later, another blaze began burning in a bedroom -- and this one destroyed the entire home.
The destroyed rental property.
In the beginning, suspicion fell upon a seventeen-year-old boy, one of five kids living at the home. But investigators switched theories after September 9, when another grass fire flared up near the Indian Hills home where the clan had moved after their previous abode became unlivable.
A formal portrait of the suspect.
The thirteen-year-old girl was arrested at her middle school.
The family's name has not been divulged in order to protect the identity of the underage suspect. However, her father, ID'd as Brad, spoke to 7News. In his view, and that of his wife, charging the girl with attempted murder times six is over the top. "She just needs help," he said. "I know she wasn't trying to murder us."
In her cheerleading shirt.
Nonetheless, Jeffco authorities are sticking with the attempted murder counts, supplemented by others involving arson, criminal mischief and more, all of which will be adjudicated in the juvenile system. In the meantime, the girl is being held at the Mount View Youth Services Center.
Where presumably she's got no access to matches.
More from our News archive: "Jacob Christenson, age 11, facing arson trial in Parker over fire that 'just happened.'"
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