2 dead after Miss. man allegedly douses 5 people with gas, lights them and house on fire
04/21/2023 12:55 pm PDT
BYRAM, Miss. (TCD) -- A 31-year-old man faces several murder and assault charges after allegedly lighting five people on fire after an argument, killing two of them.
According to the Byram Police Department, on Sunday, April 9, at approximately 7 p.m., firefighters responded to a structure fire at a home on Gary Drive and found the residence "completely engulfed in flames." First responders also located several people outside who were "severely burned."
Emergency medical services air and ground crews arrived at the scene to treat the injured victims. While putting out the blaze, firefighters reportedly discovered 77-year-old Filiberto Torres deceased inside. Medics transported five victims to the University of Mississippi Medical Center with critical injuries and one person to Baptist Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Byram Police said one of the victims who was airlifted to Regional Medical Center in Memphis died from his wounds. Police identified him as 45-year-old Hose Thomas Segura Juarez.
The District Fire Marshal and Byram Police allege Marcos Uriel Lara Perez "intentionally" started the fire after he "threw a bucket of gasoline on all the victims" in the kitchen. Perez allegedly used a BIC cigarette lighter to ignite the flames, which then caused the house to catch on fire.
According to WLBT-TV, the victims all lived together at the home on Gary Drive, and the fire started following a "verbal argument."
Byram Police said Perez is hospitalized at a burn unit in Alabama and is being charged with two counts of capital murder and three counts of aggravated assault. Three other victims remain hospitalized.
Byram Police Chief David Errington told WLBT Perez could remain in the hospital for "a while" and he remains unconscious.
Errington called the incident "honestly horrifying" and said it was the "worst traumatic event" he’d witnessed other than a car crash.
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