Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Woman pleads guilty to New Year’s apartment arson

Defendant avoids attempted murder trial set to start on Monday

Fire

A woman facing a trial next week on attempted murder, battery and arson charges for starting a fire in her boyfriend’s apartment complex on New Year’s Day pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Tuesday in Clark County District Court.

Tameca Taylor, 33, pleaded guilty to a charge of first degree arson for setting a fire during the early morning hours of Jan. 1 to her boyfriend’s apartment in Henderson.

Judge Jackie Glass set Taylor’s sentencing for 8:30 a.m. June 7 in district court. Taylor remains in Clark County Detention Center on $250,000 bail.

The fire damaged other apartments, causing some $200,000 in damage and displaced 16 people .

Because there were nine people in her boyfriend’s apartment at the time of the fire, Taylor was initially charged with nine counts of attempted murder. She also initially faced eight counts of first degree arson because the fire damaged all eight apartments in the building.

However, when her case got to district court, she was charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated battery and one count of arson. Her trial on those charges was to have begun on Monday before Judge Glass.

According to an arrest report, police responded at 10:35 p.m. Dec. 31 to a family disturbance at Taylor’s apartment in the 700 block of Center Street. The report indicated that Taylor believed her boyfriend stole her pocketknife and a cell phone charger.

Taylor’s boyfriend left with his 20-year-old son and nephew, the report said. After midnight, they returned to their apartment in the 1100 block of Center Street and found the living room in disarray with broken items, including his big-screen television, which had a 100-pound dumbbell thrown through it.

Taylor was found inside his bedroom, the report said, and after a verbal argument, she set fire to the bed with what appeared to be a lighter. After her boyfriend tried to extinguish the fire and warned everyone to get out, Taylor charged at him with a large butcher knife and two other knives, the report said.

He and his nephew were able to disarm Taylor but Taylor’s boyfriend had a minor laceration on his right cheek, police said.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy