Inset: Courtney Allen Thompson Jr. (Galveston County Jail). Background: The home in Galveston, Texas, that Thompson set ablaze, killing a 55-year-old woman (KTRK).
A Texas man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after setting fire to a house over an unpaid debt, resulting in the death of his intended victim’s mother.
Courtney Allen Thompson Jr., aged 22, was found guilty of capital murder and received a life sentence for the death of 55-year-old Renita Hawthorne in Galveston. Prosecutors detailed how first responders from Galveston’s fire and police departments arrived at the scene of a house fire in the 700 block of 39th Street in February 2024. Emergency crews managed to break a bedroom window and save three individuals, including two children, from the blaze.
Tragically, they were unable to reach Hawthorne, who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning and thermal injuries.
Authorities swiftly identified the fire as arson, focusing their investigation on Thompson and a local drug dealer named Xavier Faison, known by the alias Saccathon, who was not charged in the case. Testimony from Hawthorne’s son revealed that both he and his mother had been receiving threats from Faison concerning a drug-related debt.
According to court records accessed by local CBS affiliate KHOU, Faison had sent several threatening messages to Hawthorne’s son, including ones that read, “See y’all ready to play” and “Don’t your mama drive that truck with the window busted?”
Surveillance footage captured a black SUV circling the neighborhood. The vehicle stopped, and two men, one of whom was carrying a gas can, approached the house. Moments later, they fled, and the house was engulfed in flames.
Thompson poured gasoline in the entry points of the home, making it impossible to escape without the help of firefighters.
Prosecutors said Faison bragged about the fire in a video posted to his Instagram page, saying he was prepared to burn down all of Galveston and hoped Hawthorne was dead.
At trial, jurors also heard from a jailhouse informant who said Thompson admitted to setting the fire. The informant said he came forward because he did not like how Thompson was bragging about killing an innocent woman.
Prosecutor Adam Poole represented the state in the case.
“During closing arguments, Poole argued that setting the fire at each of the doors showed that Thompson’s intent was to trap and kill everyone inside, and likened his actions to building a tomb and then setting it on fire. Poole referenced one of Thompson’s Instagram posts in arguing that Thompson saw Renita Hawthorne as a stack of cash that he could balance in his head and flaunt on social media.”
