‘Your house is on fire.’ Woman sets ex’s house on fire, killing his mom, officials say
.png "A Michigan woman is being held without bond after officials say she set fire to a home with three people inside, killing one of them.")
A Michigan woman is being held in jail without bond after officials say she set fire to her ex-boyfriend’s home with three people inside, killing one of them.
Cinamon Charmaine Rigmaiden, 31, is charged with murder, assault with intent to murder and arson, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office.
“She wanted to make her ex-boyfriend ‘feel her pain,’ which she was able to do,” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Teana Livingston said at a bond hearing streamed by WJBK.
Marc Lakin, Rigmaiden’s defense attorney, said during the hearing that Rigmaiden didn’t intend to harm anyone and just wanted to damage the property.
Around 11:17 p.m. on June 3, Rigmaiden went to her ex’s home in Detroit and set his porch on fire, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Beforehand, Rigmaiden went to a gas station and purchased 75 cents worth of gas, Livingston said in the hearing. She poured the gas on a couch on her ex’s porch and set fire to it, Livingston said, and she was aware that there were three people inside the home.
Rigmaiden then went back to her car and sent her ex a text saying, “your house is on fire,” according to Livingston.
“She then left the location and went to McDonald’s and then it’s alleged that she, per her own words, purchased cocaine,” Livingston said.
Prosecutors say Rigmaiden’s ex was not home at the time of the fire, but his mother with disabilities was inside, along with his uncle and his uncle’s fiancee.
His uncle’s fiancee jumped out of a window from the second floor, Livingston said.
“The uncle had to flee the home to not suffer anymore smoke inhalation, but not before he had to make the decision to leave his paralyzed sister in the home,” Livingston said.
However, Rigmaiden’s ex’s mother, 53-year-old Tina Dorrough, did not make it out. Her body was later found on a stairway landing, officials said.
“She did this with knowledge that the ex-boyfriend’s mother, who is paralyzed on the left side of her body and has limited mobility was in that house,” Livingston said.
A judge ruled that Rigmaiden be held without bond, WJBK reported. Her next court date is set for June 14.
“Since when is the solution in the breakup of a relationship setting fire to an occupied house? The alleged actions of the defendant in this case are beyond reprehensible. As a result, there were three innocent victims. A woman has died and two people that were seriously injured,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in the release.
McClatchy News reached out to Rigmaiden’s attorney but did not immediately hear back.
This story was originally published June 9, 2024 at 1:02 PM with the headline "‘Your house is on fire.’ Woman sets ex’s house on fire, killing his mom, officials say."
