Authorities say a 40-year-old Texas man has been charged with murder after allegedly setting fire to his family’s Baytown residence, leaving his disabled father trapped inside the house.
Texas man kills father in deliberately set blaze
Investigators later discovered the 73-year-old man, Floyd Hadley, dead in the bathtub, where he had reportedly dialed 911 in a final attempt to escape the blaze.
“Floyd was able to make a 911 call … in which he advised that his residence was on fire and he could not get out,” reads the criminal complaint filed in Harris County last week.
The fire reportedly broke out just after 3:30 p.m. on Monday, July 21. According to police and surveillance video from a nearby home, the flames erupted just seconds after Clinton Hadley fled the property.
Officers said the gas meter appeared to have been either damaged or tampered with, according to court documents.
Hadley, 40, who was arrested later that day for an unrelated crime, allegedly admitted during police questioning that he “wanted to burn the house down and get away from his family.”
Authorities located him in Slidell, Louisiana, after he reportedly tried to start a second fire at a local business when an employee refused to give him cash.
Police records indicate Hadley has a known record involving welfare checks and mental health concerns, including a disturbing incident the night before the fatal fire.
Texas man who set fire was mentally ill
That evening, Hadley’s aunt called law enforcement after he reportedly made threatening comments about setting the house ablaze.
“[Hadley] is schizophrenic and was talking about setting the house on fire,” the complaint states, citing the aunt’s 911 call.
Responding firefighters arrived at the scene to find the home already engulfed in flames.
Video surveillance allegedly shows Hadley scaling the home’s perimeter fence before entering a Toyota Corolla and speeding off.
During subsequent interviews with detectives, the Texas man reportedly confessed to “knowingly and intentionally” igniting furniture inside the Baytown home where his father was later found dead.
Following his arrest, Hadley was booked in Louisiana on several charges including resisting arrest, remaining in a place after being forbidden, and terrorizing.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has since filed a murder charge against him in connection to his father’s death.
Officials with the Baytown Police Department are working with Louisiana authorities to facilitate Hadley’s extradition back to Texas.
Indiana mother charged with son’s death after fire
In an unrelated but equally disturbing case, a 31-year-old Indiana mother is behind bars after investigators say she abandoned her four children in a burning home, leading to the death of her 7-year-old son.
Kirstin D. Bowers was arrested last week and charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death following the June 5 blaze in Arlington, Indiana.
Her son, David Bowers Jr., perished in the fire while three of his siblings managed to escape on their own.
Rush County Sheriff’s deputies and local firefighters responded to a 911 call around 2 p.m. reporting a house fire with a young child still inside.
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First responders arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames. Despite efforts by fire crews to rescue the child, he was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner.
Investigators noted multiple red flags at the property. Bowers initially claimed she had fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette in bed, only to wake up as the fire spread.
She told police she tried to carry the children out one by one but was unsuccessful in rescuing her son.
“Bowers advised she attempted to get the children out of the residence one by one, however due to smoke and fire she was unable to rescue David Bowers Jr.,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Authorities say Bowers placed two 911 calls on the day of the incident, hanging up during the first one.
Approximately 15 minutes later, she reportedly called back to inform dispatchers that her son was still inside the home.
A timeline compiled using witness statements, digital evidence, and surveillance footage contradicted Bowers’ claims.
The evidence “revealed that Kirstin Bowers had left the residence and walked several blocks from the residence during the suspected time of the fire,” the release noted.
“This left four small children inside the residence. It is suspected that three children exited the residence on their own and David Bowers Jr. was unable to get out.”
A search of Bowers’ cellphone uncovered a troubling message she had sent to her husband the day before the fire.
“Well I’m about to call the CPS lady back out here…and let her know that you left me here with the kids by myself when she said not to so thanks,” the message read.
During police interviews, Bowers dismissed accounts from neighbors suggesting she had walked away from the house as it burned.
She reportedly claimed she had returned home minutes before the fire began. However, investigators say her first 911 call came roughly four minutes after she left the property.
Officers at the scene reportedly noted a conspicuous absence of smoke or soot on Bowers’ clothing.
Despite her claim that she had attempted to pull her children from the flames, she did not appear to have been in close proximity to the fire.
She is currently being held at the Shelby County Jail without bond on unrelated charges.
Her initial court appearance in Rush County Circuit Court on the neglect charges is scheduled for Wednesday, July 30, according to court records.
