Inset: Laquita Spears (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Milwaukee firefighters responding to the blaze that Laquita Spears allegedly sparked during a fight with her dad over being kicked out of his apartment (WITI/YouTube).
A woman from Wisconsin, facing eviction by her father, set his house on fire using “charcoal fluid” and a Bic lighter while he was still inside, according to police reports.
Laquita Spears, aged 48, allegedly shouted, “Burn motherf—er, burn!” as she set her father’s Milwaukee apartment ablaze, as detailed in a criminal complaint accessed by Law&Crime.
The fire quickly spread to neighboring apartments, forcing elderly residents to flee. Many suffered from smoke inhalation and other injuries, with one individual requiring hospitalization for chest pain after being found unresponsive and not breathing, according to authorities. The apartment complex predominantly houses elderly and disabled residents and lacked sprinkler systems, officials reported.
The complaint describes scenes of chaos, stating, “Occupants of the apartment complex were self-evacuating, and some people were hanging out of windows.”
Spears and her father had been arguing after he attempted to evict her from his home, where she had been residing for several weeks following her expulsion from a local shelter, police stated.
According to the complaint, the father mentioned, “He had no issues with the defendant initially, but over the last two weeks, she began talking to herself incessantly.” On January 13, 2026, around 1:00 p.m., he said she was yelling incoherently about a $5 loan she expected from a family member. C.T. informed her she could no longer stay, prompting her to continue screaming and cursing at him.
As the dispute unfolded, Spears’ dad told police he saw Spears walking toward the front door to leave while clutching a red Bic lighter. She made her “burn” comment before walking out, the complaint says.
“[The father] observed his coat on top of his couch was on fire,” according to police. “[The father] stated he attempted to put out the fire but was unsuccessful.”
During police interviews, Spears’ dad said Spears had taken a “cigarette lighter and lit a coat hanging on the chair near the entrance to the apartment and also lit the couch along the southwest wall in the living room on fire,” per the complaint.
Spears, who has two prior arson convictions, was tracked down and arrested on Jan. 16 and interviewed by investigators.
“[Spears] stated she had been arguing with her father and detailed various disputes with family members going back to September and back to her previous arson case,” the complaint says. “Defendant admitted she squirted ‘the charcoal’ on top of a jacket that was on top of the couch in the living room. Defendant stated she also retrieved a laundry basket of clothing and placed it on a table in the living room and squirted the charcoal fluid on the clothes.”
Spears admitted to using the Bic lighter to “ignite the fluid at both locations” before walking out of the apartment and fleeing, police say. She claimed she was not intending to hurt anyone and didn’t think the fire would spread the way it did.
Spears was booked on arson and reckless endangerment charges and is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 26. She is being held on a $50,000 bond and has been ordered to stay away from her father, if released.
