Four teenagers were in jail Tuesday, accused of trying to burn down a house in Daytona Beach, but two of them are charged with more than just arson because police believe they were trying to kill the people inside.
These teens were all friends at one point, but a series of fights got to the point where two of them are accused of taking Yoo-hoo bottles filled with gas, dumping them on the porch of the Foote Court home (see map), and trying to burn it down with people sleeping inside.
It was only the smashing glass of a side window that woke Christopher Johnson and his girlfriend out of bed, and they were shocked at what they found at their front door.
"Imagine you opening the door and the first thing you feel is heat," Christopher Johnson told WFTV.
Fire was climbing the walls of their small home, burning from a gasoline soaked blanket on a chair. Johnson and Grant grabbed bowls from the kitchen, filled them with water, and ran a bucket brigade to stop the fire before it burned through the wall.
"I never thought it would escalate this far. I'm 24, these kids are 18, 19," Grant said.
Police said the kids, now charged with attempted murder and arson, were led by Lillian Corlett. The 18-year-old had been fighting with Grant's younger sister, possibly over a boy, Grant said, and the fight ended up at her house.
Grant said Corlett had threatened to burn down the house, and reports say it was Alicia Macey who helped her dump the gasoline and light the flame.
Two other teens, Kristina Glover and Patrick Eversole, allegedly watched it all happen. Eversole was the one who broke the window when he saw what was happening. It was the only warning the people inside had.
"This is the only thing that saved us. If it was not for this, we would not be here right now," Grant said.
All four teens are being held without bail. Police reports say they all admitted, in recorded interviews, to being part of the plot. All four are charged with arson, and Corlett and Macey are also charged with attempted homicide.
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