Date: 07-17-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v. Tommy Lee Harrison Sr.

Case Number: 1:22-cr-00011

Judge: Jane Magnus-Stinson

Court: The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (Marion County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Indianapolis, Indiana criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with Setting Fire to his Father’s Connersville Home, Killing Family’s Dog and Cat
Alabama Man Sentenced to Nearly Five Years in Federal Prison for Setting Fire to his Father’s Connersville Home, Killing Family’s Dog and Cat

On October 28, 2021, Tommy Lee Harrison, SR., age 34, left Birmingham, Alabama, with the intent to travel to Connersville, Indiana to set fire to the home where Harrison’s father lived with his wife, children, and the family’s pets. During the nearly eight-hour drive, Harrison stopped at a Walmart in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and purchased a can of black spray paint.

At 1:40 am on October 29, 2021, Harrison arrived at his father’s Connersville home. Video surveillance from the area showed Harrison parking next door to the victim’s house, exiting the vehicle, placing a container on the ground, and driving away. Harrison returned approximately twenty minutes later, and repeatedly drove around the residence for approximately twenty minutes until he backed his car into the yard.

Over the next hour, Harrison used gasoline to light the inside and outside of his family’s home on fire, destroying their master bedroom, rendering the bedrooms of the family’s children unlivable, and killing two of the family’s beloved pets, a cat and a dog. Harrison also used the spray paint he purchased to deface the property with a racial slur. Harrison departed the scene of the crime and returned to Alabama, where he was later arrested.

“This defendant’s actions had a devastating impact not only on the immediate victims, but on the community of Connersville as well. His actions uprooted a family, destroyed their peace of mind, and shook the small town in which his father was a prominent community leader,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Crossing state lines to commit a violent crime is a serious offense that merits a serious federal prison sentence. Thanks to the talents and persistence of investigators at the FBI, the Indiana Fire Marshal’s Office, and our federal prosecutor, this arsonist was successfully identified and held accountable.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office investigated. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley P. Shepard, who prosecuted this case.

Outcome:

Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 57 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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