The suspect in a Bronx fire on January 29 has been arrested after being caught on video and identified.
Police reported that a 15-year-old girl was arrested for setting a deadly fire at 1211 Evergreen Avenue in Soundview, Bronx, New York. Her identity has not been released because she is a minor.
At around 2 p.m. emergency responders rushed to the building to extinguish the fire. Abdoukarim Sakolly, 27, lost his life in the flames that day. He was dead when firefighters found him. Officials said that he was not connected to the suspect. Two other people, aged 30 and 32, were able to escape but were injured.
Neighbors said that Sakolly was a hardworking young man from Ohio who worked at a fried chicken restaurant. Since he was assigned to the night shift, he usually slept in the morning.
Thirty-seven-year-old Ibrahaima Magassouba, one of the building’s residents who was luckily away from home during the tragedy, said that they hoped for justice for Sakolly’s death. “His family is not gonna see him again, you know?” he said.
The police believe that the teenage girl had repeatedly run away from her residence in Canandaigua in Rochester. She allegedly had a disagreement with one of the building’s tenants. Security footage caught the girl entering the building with a bottle of clear liquid and leaving without it. A few minutes after, the video showed her exiting the building.
According to the police, the bottle contained lighter fluid, which was used to set the fire.
The fire also affected the building next door and no fewer than 100 firefighters were required to extinguish it.
The teenager was arrested on Sunday in New York City after people recognized her and called 911. She is charged with murder, assault, arson, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief.
Although the girl was not identified, police released video footage of her outside the building.
