Inset left: Anthony Green (WSYR). Inset right: Shaquoiya Allison (Obituary). Background: The aftermath of the fatal arson started by Green in Syracuse, N.Y. (Onondaga County District Attorney”s Office).
A man from New York State has been sentenced to life imprisonment for deliberately setting a fire that resulted in the death of his neighbor.
In December 2025, Anthony Green, aged 60, was found guilty by a jury in Onondaga County. His convictions included first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, and one count of arson.
On Tuesday, Judge Mary Anne Doherty of Syracuse City Court handed down a life sentence without the possibility of parole. This was in response to the fatal fire that claimed the life of 34-year-old Shaquoiya Allison in June 2024.
The tragic event took place around 11 p.m. at a two-family home located on South Avenue. Earlier that day, a disagreement between Green and his girlfriend, Lorraine Green, escalated to the point where police were called, according to Syracuse.com.
At the time of the fire, Anthony Green was on the front porch. Upstairs, five people, including Lorraine Green, were attending a party. As tensions simmered, the fire began to spread through the building.
Surveillance footage presented during the trial showed Anthony Green exiting the residence as flames grew increasingly intense, eventually engulfing the front porch. He was observed walking leisurely to a nearby corner store to purchase cigarettes while the fire raged on.
“The only person who walks away from a fire completely unbothered is the person who set it,” prosecutor Rob Moran told jurors.
As the inferno builds, the defendant is seen making his way back to near the scene of the crime, the footage shows. Then, he settles in at an empty lot across the street – smoking as the home burns.
The judge castigated the defendant during his sentencing hearing – calling his actions “diabolical” according to a courtroom report by Syracuse.com.
“So evil it defies logic,” Doherty said, addressing Anthony Green. “I believe that kind of evil should never be free to hurt anyone again.”
Prosecutors argued that the victim was not the intended target. Rather, the defendant wanted to kill Lorraine Green, who wears a prosthetic leg. That late at night, the woman likely would have removed her engineered leg as she was enjoying herself with friends, presumably complicating her escape from the burning building.
Allison was asleep in one of the back rooms of the residence as the fire raged. Her death was ruled a homicide by smoke inhalation.
The defense, for its part, argued there was no evidence showing Anthony Green had actually started the fire. To that point, prosecutors did admit investigators never determined the exact cause, but argued the defendant’s behavior after the fire, in tandem with the history of domestic strife, was proof enough.
Prosecutors, at one point, also alleged Anthony Green used some kind of accelerant to coax the fire into spreading faster and that he would later admit, to at least one other person, that he was responsible for the fatal pyre, according to court documents obtained by Syracuse-based ABC affiliate WSYR.
In the end, the jury sided with the state.
During the sentencing hearing, Allison’s mother reflected on the caregiving her daughter provided to every person in her life. The victim worked as a caregiver with two different Syracuse-area groups.
“Our family is shattered,” her mother said.
The victim’s obituary remembers her in similar terms:
Her life’s work reflected caring for others. Shaquoiya was a loving & kind woman who will be dearly missed by all who knew her. She leaves to cherish family and friends.
Anthony Green, for his part, maintains his innocence and intends to appeal his conviction and sentence, his defense attorney said.
