A 27-year-old man from Grasonville faces arson charges after investigators say he set fire to a woman's home on Sunday.
According to Deputy State Fire Marshals, Sean Nicholas Murphy poured gasoline and set several fires to the exterior of a home on Jewel Court in Grasonville.
Two people, 76-year-old Patricia Dotson and her granddaughter, were asleep inside the home when it was set on fire. A neighbor driving by saw smoke and woke up Dotson and her granddaughter who escaped the home without being hurt. The neighbor then called 911 and put the fire out before members of the Grasonville Volunteer Fire Department arrived.
The fire caused about $3,000 in damage to the home.
After being questioned by Deputy State Fire Marshals, Murphy was charged with arson, reckless endangerment, malicious burning, and malicious destruction of property.
Murphy is being held on no bond and faces up to 48 years in prison and more than $67,000 in fines if convicted on all charges.
