Dad allegedly torched apartment with three young kids inside
A father in Florida is being held without bond after allegedly setting an apartment on fire with his three children inside before escaping through a window, authorities say.
Velmando Jahvon Williams, 22, remains jailed at the Palm Beach County Jail on three counts each of attempted homicide and false imprisonment, as well as first-degree arson and battery charges, jail records show. Williams set the apartment on fire Friday during an argument with the children’s mother at Stonybrook Apartments in Riviera Beach, she told WPTV.
“I’m trying to get over it, but I can’t,” the children’s mother, Tranice Smith, told the station. “I have no words for him. None.”
Williams held Smith down by her shirt prior to setting the fire, but she was able to break free by ripping her shirt off during the scuffle, according to a police report obtained by the Palm Beach Post.
Smith then told Williams she was going to call police about the domestic dispute, prompting him to tell her that he was going to “burn her apartment down,” the report states.
Williams then allegedly slammed the door shut and locked himself inside the apartment with his three children inside. A fire was then intentionally set on the couches in the living room, an investigation from the state’s fire marshal found.
The children — two boys, age 1 and 3, and a one-month-old girl – were saved from the burning apartment by responding officers, firefighters and several neighbors, WPTV reports. The boys were treated at the scene, while the infant girl was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, WPLG reports.
The girl, who was treated for second-degree burns, is now listed in stable condition, according to Facebook posts by her relatives, the Palm Beach Post reports.
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