Inset: Mahogany Ashley Massey. Background: University Ridge apartment complex in Durham, N.C. (WTVD/YouTube).
A North Carolina woman is accused of intentionally setting fire to an apartment complex where her mother and brother lived, with investigators later alleging she had a “people to kill list” that included them.
Mahogany Ashley Massey, 31, faces a series of serious charges, including first-degree arson and three counts of assault inflicting serious bodily injury. She is also charged with three additional arson-related counts tied to serious injuries suffered by a firefighter.
The fire broke out late Sunday morning at the University Ridge apartment complex in Durham. According to the Durham Fire Department, crews were dispatched around 11 a.m. and arrived to find intense flames already tearing through the building. Fire was shooting through the roof, and it took responders roughly an hour to bring the blaze under control.
Seven people were hurt in the fire, and five of them were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Investigators soon determined the blaze had been intentionally set and identified Massey as the suspect, authorities said. She was taken into custody shortly afterward.
During Massey’s arraignment, prosecutors said officers found a “people to kill list” among her belongings, according to courtroom coverage from local outlets WRAL and WTVD. Prosecutors alleged that her mother and brother, who lived at the apartment complex, were among the intended targets.
Prosecutors said Massey’s mother is still hospitalized with “severe smoke inhalation.” Her brother nearly bled out when he severed an artery on a piece of glass while trying to rescue his mom, prosecutors stated.
Massey’s father spoke with WTVD and said his daughter is a paranoid schizophrenic who has refused to take her medicine for months.
“I couldn’t make her take the medication. I couldn’t force her to take the medication,” Daron Massey said. “I’d have her involuntarily committed and they would release her.”
The suspect remained on scene during the fire and watched as her mother was loaded into an ambulance.
“Any normal person would say, ‘That’s my mom. She’s getting in an ambulance. Let me run over and see what’s wrong,’” the father told the TV station. “She sat on the wall, looked at her, smoked a cigarette and drank a beer. Didn’t run or move. Just watched what was going on like everybody else.”
Mahogany Massey’s defense attorney reportedly told the judge his client should receive mental health treatment instead of jail. Massey interrupted the hearing multiple times and the judge continued without her.
She remains in the Durham County Jail without bond. Her next court date is set for July 2.
