FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — A 26-year-old Rome man was arrested after police say he intentionally set a house on fire and killed his stepmother.
Around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday Rome police were called to a house fire on Addington Court. When officers arrived, they learned a woman was trapped inside. Flames were coming out the roof and around the front door.
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Officers said they noticed a shirtless man on the side of the road. The man was identified as Timothy Edward Lary, 26.
Authorities said the resident of the home, grabbed the officer and said “He set the fire and my wife is inside! I want him to go to jail,” pointing to Lary on the side of the road.
Officers asked Lary, “Did you set fire to the house?” He answered, “Yeah I did.”
Police said the resident is Lary’s father and that he and his wife rented the lot from Lary’s mother. He told police his son “had been mad all day, working his way into a rage.“
The father said that Lary believed the lot should belong to him and that he wanted his mother to sell it, so he could have the money and be on his own.
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Lary allegedly threatened that he was going to burn the house down while his father and stepmother were at work. His father said Lary took a bunch of papers and lit fire to them throwing them onto the mattress in his room.
The father said he yelled at his wife to get out of the home but when he went outside she was not there.
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Once the fire was extinguished the 70-year-old victim’s body along with two cats and a dog were found in the back bedroom.
Lary was arrested and charged with neglect to a disabled adult and or elder person, three counts of cruelty to animals, three counts of arson, criminal damage to property, and two counts of aggravated assault and murder.
He was booked into the Floyd County Jail.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect the relationship between the suspect and the victim.
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