HAYS COUNTY, Texas — A woman will spend the next 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to setting her Kyle home on fire in November 2024.
The fire occurred in a neighborhood in Kyle on Nov. 4, 2024. Investigators with the Hays County Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the fire originated inside a cabinet located between two windows in an upstairs bedroom, concluding that the fire was caused by intentionally lighting ignitable materials on fire.
Although the tenant, Lawanda Moreno, denied having an insurance policy, investigators discovered that two policies for the residence were purchased days before the fire.
Moreno had also been in the process of eviction, telling her property manager that she was skilled at obtaining free rent and threatened to damage the property if the eviction continued.
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Moreno pleaded guilty to arson with intent to damage a habitation, a first degree felony. She was sentenced on March 17 to 20 years in prison.
Moreno was also convicted and sentenced for two healthcare fraud charges and one unauthorized insurance business charge. Those sentences will be served concurrently with her arson sentence.