ROCK HILL, S.C. — A Rock Hill woman charged with arson and attempted murder saw a Channel 9 news camera in court Tuesday and asked if she was going to be on TV.
Then, 27-year-old Suyatta Johnson apologized to the people she hurt in a massive apartment fire a week ago.
"I just want to apologize to all the families that lost everything. And Lord forgive me," Johnson said.
None of the victims of the fire at Oak Hollow Apartments were in court Tuesday, but an apology isn't enough for Mandi Coley. Coley is seven months pregnant, and was forced to jump from a second floor window into her boyfriend's arms to escape the flames.
"I hope she gets everything she deserves. She should spend the rest of her life in jail, because that's something you just don't do," she said.
Arrest warrants said that Johnson lit the comforter on the bed she and her boyfriend, Nesbitt Franklin, were sleeping on, then stood there and watched him burn.
Franklin suffered serious burns on his legs and back, according to the warrants. A friend, Samuel White, has spoken to Franklin since the fire.
"He said he woke up, and he was on fire. She was trying to kill him," White said. "He's a tough cookie. He's OK, though."
The fire left 25 people homeless and caused $600,000 in damage to the apartments, destroying five units. On the day of the fire, Johnson told Eyewitness News it was an accident caused by a cigarette. After a weeklong investigation involving police and fire investigators, Johnson was charged late Monday night. She was denied bond on Tuesday afternoon. She has no family in the area, and her relatives are in Wisconsin. The judge took that into account when denying bond.
Johnson told authorities last week that she was on several medications for depression. She had also just been released from jail for repeatedly spitting on a police officer during an earlier arrest for drunkenness.
Channel 9 also learned Tuesday that Johnson was convicted three years ago for unlawful burning. When asked about that crime, she told the judge that she had set fire to another boyfriend's clothes.
Coley simply can't imagine that dozens of people could've been killed because of a fight between a girlfriend and boyfriend.
"It hurts. It really does hurt because to a certain extent you don't know what to say. You're really just at a loss for words," she said.
Johnson is expected in court for a first appearance in late August.
Woman accused of setting fire at apartment complex apologizes
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