Nehemiah Alderman faces charges of first-degree arson, attempted felony murder and domestic battery by strangulation.
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — A 19-year-old man from Folkston, Georgia, allegedly set fire to his former girlfriend’s apartment after a series of threats and reported domestic violence incidents. The blaze displaced several residents and endangered a tenant living downstairs, according to a Fernandina Beach Police Department arrest report.
Alderman is accused in connection with the Sept. 19 fire at an apartment building on Beugnet Road. He is charged with first-degree arson, attempted felony murder and domestic battery by strangulation.
No injuries were reported. However, the fire forced the upstairs resident, her two children and a man who lived in the downstairs unit to leave their homes, police said.
The upstairs resident told police she had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with Alderman since July.
According to the arrest report, she said Alderman squeezed her neck during an argument between Sept. 14 and Sept. 15, making it difficult for her to breathe.
She told investigators the incident ended the relationship and that Alderman’s threats became more serious afterward.
Shortly before midnight on Sept. 18, she said Alderman called and threatened to “put a bullet” in her head. A witness reportedly heard the threat while the call was on speakerphone.
Fearing for her safety, the woman left the apartment. Police said she received a text from Alderman on Sept. 19 saying he was at the residence to collect his belongings.
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Investigators said a group had driven Alderman to Peter’s Point earlier that day. Witnesses told police that, after leaving the beach, he asked the driver to stop at his former girlfriend’s apartment so he could retrieve his clothes.
One witness said Alderman and another person first entered the apartment together before Alderman went upstairs alone. The driver estimated that second visit lasted about 20 minutes. When Alderman returned to the truck, he appeared distressed and told the driver to leave, saying he did not want to discuss what had happened.
Another witness told investigators that Alderman said he had set his former girlfriend’s clothes on fire. The witness said he and others initially dismissed the comment as a joke because it sounded “extreme,” according to the report.
Police said surveillance footage showed the group’s blue Ford F-150 leaving the area at about 4:04 p.m. A second camera captured the apartment building fully engulfed in flames roughly 14 minutes later.
A tenant was inside the downstairs apartment when the fire began and was unaware that the unit above was burning, police said. Bystanders across the street noticed the flames, went to the building and pounded on the man’s door to warn him and help him escape.
Investigators wrote that the tenant might have died without the bystanders’ intervention. That allegation supports the attempted felony murder charge, according to police.
Alderman acknowledged to detectives that he had been at the apartment during the relevant period but denied starting the fire, the arrest report states.
Alderman was already being held on an active warrant for domestic battery by strangulation when Fernandina Beach police questioned him about the fire. Booking information showed he was being held in the Nassau County Jail on bond exceeding $450,000.
