Local woman arrested in arson case
Mar. 22—A Milledgeville woman is behind bars in connection with a house fire that authorities said was deliberately set early last Sunday.
No one was injured in the fire on Waller Street shortly before 1:30 a.m., said Baldwin County Fire Rescue Chief Victor Young.
Jessica Camilla was taken into custody while walking along Vinson Highway on Monday, according to Baldwin County Lt. Bradley Towe, who along with Deputy Chief and Fire Marshal Lewis Osborne investigated the suspicious fire.
The suspect was arrested by Baldwin County Sheriff's Office Deputies Meagan Pearson and Ernesto Lopez, said Towe, who also was with deputies at the time.
Camilla was charged with one count of arson in the first degree.
She remained jailed in the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center on Friday.
Towe said he and Lewis took swore out a warrant for Camilla's arrest last Sunday.
The fire started in the living room area of the wood-framed home where Timothy Anderson lived. Flames spread to other parts of the house, causing major damages.
"It was started by a couch in the living room," Towe said in a telephone interview with The Union-Recorder.
Towe said several samples of possible evidence were taken at the scene of the fire and later sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory in Macon for analysis.
"Those results are still pending," Towe said.
During the time that Camilla was being arrested and placed in handcuffs, Towe said she admitted she set the fire, but she refused to say how or why she did it.
Asked what led authorities to arrest the suspect, Towe said fire officials had received some calls from people indicating that she had told other people she had set the fire.
"The fire remains under investigation at this time," Towe said. "We're looking into some additional leads right now."
