PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Court documents are revealing new details about a fire that killed a man in Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood earlier this year.
The fire broke out around 1:38 a.m. on Feb. 4 at a home on the 5400 block of Regent Street.
Raymond Bell, 25, was rescued from a second-floor bedroom and transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Philadelphia police announced the arrest of Bell’s cousin, 34-year-old Chardae Sapp. She was taken into custody on Sept. 13 and charged with murder and related offenses.
According to a criminal complaint, Sapp allegedly admitted to her father that she intentionally set the fire. Investigators say she told him the blaze was intended to harm another cousin whom she believed had been speaking negatively about her.
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The complaint also states that Sapp later told her sister she “didn’t mean it” when questioned about the fire.
During an interview with investigators, Sapp allegedly told a police officer, “I set the fire,” and acknowledged that “an innocent person lost their life,” according to court documents.
Family members told police they saw Sapp inside the home before the fire began. After noticing smoke, relatives attempted to reach Bell but were unable to get to him.
Fire investigators later determined the blaze was intentionally set using an open flame applied to combustible materials inside the second-floor bedroom.
She is scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 28 at 9 a.m.
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