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Last updated on Saturday, February 16, 2013
(SEYMOUR) —A 14-year-old boy from Seymour is in jail, charged with arson and two counts of attempted murder after police say he set his home ablaze Wednesday night while his 10-year-old brother and mother were inside sleeping.
Seymour Police Chief Bill Abbott says the boy was targeting his mother.
The two got out of the home alive by jumping into the arms of first responders from a second floor window.
Abbott says, the teen was arrested at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and taken to the Jackson County Juvenile Detention Center at Brownstown, charged with two Class A felony counts of attempted murder and one Class A felony count of residential arson.
The mother, Yvonne Colwell, was badly burned and is recovering in the Intensive Care Unit of University Hospital in Louisville after being flown there. Her 10-year-old son, Cameron Perkins, has also been released from the hospital after minor smoke inhalation.
Cameron helped his mother out of her obstructed room, which family said had been nailed shut by the 14-year-old. Police say the teen ignited a downstairs couch with a cigarette lighter, aware it was directly below his mother's room. The boy then took his mother's car, which is an alleged routine practice when she falls asleep, and drove it to a friend's home.
A pit bull and two cats were fatally burned in the fire and two other dogs were found alive in the backyard.
Friends of the family describe seeing the teen that night and could tell something had happened. He told them the house was on fire and he ran. He was arrested Thursday evening and police say he admitted to the acts, telling them the target was his mother but Cameron was an "acceptable casualty."
The boy is charged as a juvenile but will be in court for the first time Tuesday. Abbott says Cameron hugged his brother shortly before the arrest at the Seymour Police Station.
The family says the boy hung around the wrong crowds, dabbled in drugs, and disobeyed his mother although had a good relationship with her.
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