Prosecutors: Angry wife set fire to house with kids inside
TACOMA, Wash. -- A mother who was arrested after she allegedly started a fire in her home while her children hid upstairs has been charged with first-degree arson, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The woman was upset over possible infidelity by her husband, so she piled photographs, a gift box, lingerie and other items on her bedroom floor around 10 p.m. Sunday and set it on fire, investigators said.
The mother's four daughters, ages seven to 13 years, were home during the fire. Prosecutors said the 13-year-old called her uncle in Arizona and told him that her parents got in to a fight and her mother was burning her father’s stuff. The girl told him it was smoky in the house and directed her three younger sisters to open windows and get into a closet. The uncle then called 911.
Upon arriving at the home in the 3800 block of East J Street, police saw children dressed in pajamas peeking out of an open upstairs window, prosecutors said. Officers entered the smoke-filled house and found a pile of charred debris on the bedroom floor.
The youngest girl told police she walked into her mother’s room and saw a box that was "red from fire." The mother had put out the fire before police arrived.
Medics treated one child at the scene for smoke inhalation. Officers then arrested the mother.
Firefighters said it was lucky the home didn't catch fire, as there were piles of clothes strewn about the floor near the fire and a bed was inches away from the flames. The children had escaped to a bedroom directly above where the fire was set.
"Arson is always dangerous, but especially so with children in the house," Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said in a statement released to the media. "The defendant has been charged with arson with aggravating circumstances for endangering the children."
The woman is being held on $100,000 bail. Meanwhile, the children have been placed with their father.
The woman was upset over possible infidelity by her husband, so she piled photographs, a gift box, lingerie and other items on her bedroom floor around 10 p.m. Sunday and set it on fire, investigators said.
The mother's four daughters, ages seven to 13 years, were home during the fire. Prosecutors said the 13-year-old called her uncle in Arizona and told him that her parents got in to a fight and her mother was burning her father’s stuff. The girl told him it was smoky in the house and directed her three younger sisters to open windows and get into a closet. The uncle then called 911.
Upon arriving at the home in the 3800 block of East J Street, police saw children dressed in pajamas peeking out of an open upstairs window, prosecutors said. Officers entered the smoke-filled house and found a pile of charred debris on the bedroom floor.
The youngest girl told police she walked into her mother’s room and saw a box that was "red from fire." The mother had put out the fire before police arrived.
Medics treated one child at the scene for smoke inhalation. Officers then arrested the mother.
Firefighters said it was lucky the home didn't catch fire, as there were piles of clothes strewn about the floor near the fire and a bed was inches away from the flames. The children had escaped to a bedroom directly above where the fire was set.
"Arson is always dangerous, but especially so with children in the house," Pierce County prosecutor Mark Lindquist said in a statement released to the media. "The defendant has been charged with arson with aggravating circumstances for endangering the children."
The woman is being held on $100,000 bail. Meanwhile, the children have been placed with their father.
Although I'm glad the kids hid from what I can only imagine was a super scary scene, I wish they would have LEFT the house and gone to a neighbor's to call for help. I have to say for myself I can be pretty vengeful but I would never burn the house down with my children in it. Who would even think to do that? Even in a fit of rage???
Been almost a day now KOMO. She has been charged. Mug shot and a name, please.
 @Getov Mylon Posted it below but it's down there now. Jenny Mena, 32....no mugshot though. Station would have to do a FOIA request probably for that.
 @dg54321 Our commenter reporters are often faster and more accurate than the paid ones at KOMO.
So you think your husband 'may be' involved in infidelity, so you burn your house down with the kids inside? Moronic thinking, that's for sure.Â
the article headlines says that this lady "set fire to house"  and then says "Firefighters said it was lucky the home didn't catch fire, as there were piles of clothes strewn about the floor near the fire and a bed was inches away from the flames."  sounds like this mom set a bunch of stuff on fire in the house, not the house on fire. Since it was "lucky the home didn't catch on fire".  Stupid thing to do, but I think society would benefit more from this lady getting psychiatric help, more than jail time. Unless she has a history of abusing her kids, she needs help more than anything. She should be charged with reckless endangerment, because she put her kids at risk with her stupidity. Maybe if it was warmer she could had made a bonfire outside?
JUST arson, how about a couple counts of attempted murder?
 @dkgiovenco Intent would be hard to prove.
@Audio Cat @dkgiovenco The intent should be in line with the act of arson. Since the kids were home it could be substantiated. For a good prosecutor it would be a small leap to make.
How is it arson if it's your own home? Serious question btw.Â
 @lakeview http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9A.48.010
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RCW 9A.48.010Definitions.
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(1) For the purpose of this chapter, unless the context indicates otherwise: Â Â Â Â
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(a) "Building" has the definition in RCWÂ 9A.04.110(5), and where a building consists of two or more units separately secured or occupied, each unit shall not be treated as a separate building; Â Â Â Â
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(b) "Damages", in addition to its ordinary meaning, includes any charring, scorching, burning, or breaking, or agricultural or industrial sabotage, and shall include any diminution in the value of any property as a consequence of an act; Â Â Â Â
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(c) "Property of another" means property in which the actor possesses anything less than exclusive ownership. Â Â Â Â
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(2) To constitute arson it is not necessary that a person other than the actor has ownership in the building or structure damaged or set on fire.
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 @alaska_dreamin  @lakeview I wonder where wood fireplaces fit into that RCW?  Because a fireplace is part of the structure and charring and scorching does indeed occur, which would seem to fit into the above RCW as arson. Â
 @lakeview People have set fire to their own homes or businesses in the hope of a fat insurance payout and/or when hopelessly far behind on the mortgage.Â
While most of those pinheads never intended to harm anyone, others' fires have gone out of control, killing or seriously injuring people and pets.Â
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If people want to drive out to the middle of the dessert and set fire to their vehicles (assuming paid off, of course) I fully support their right to do so, but anything like this where so many variables could cost innocent lives I absolutely want serious jail time.Â
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Although here we have more intentionally misleading headlines and sensationalism: even the firefighters' quotes make it clear she set her so-called evidence on fire, not her house and it never caught fire even accidentally.Â
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Not to minimalise or excuse the seriousness of her idiocy, but these blatantly wrong headlines and sensationalism are getting outright embarrassing for KOMO.Â
 @lakeview In addition, did they own the house outright?  In this day and age, I kind of doubt it.
 @lakeview Take for example the case of the late Lisa Left-Eye Lopes. She had previously set fire to her beau's (Andre Rison) shoes with lighter fluid and thrown them into a bathtub to watch them burn. Her way of managing stress in her relationship. That will leave you with a big mess, and a smelly house as long as your tub is cast iron. Well, the second time Left-Eye took her rage to her boyfriend's shoes (a whole mess o pairs) it didn't go off quite so well. The cast iron tub she burned the first time was replaced with a plexiglass tub. The tub melted, and then the house burned down. The DA charged her with arson, even though she and Rison reconcilled. It is always "the people" vs.
 @lakeview It could fall under many different ones, just a couple are; reckless endangerment, destruction of personal property (if the bank owns even a part of it).  I'm sure there are many other possible charges a D.A. could come up with.
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Anyone else know of any?
 @lakeview Arson occurs when a person intentionally sets a fire or causes an explosion for the purpose of burning a building or, any property. The person must have the intention of burning the building or, at least, must realize there is a substantial risk and disregard it. So, Supposedly the fire spread and would've done harm to your neighbor's property.. you can get sued for doing a dumb thing. But yes it's arson,Â
 @Just my say  @lakeview it is like you burn down your own home, you will be charged with arson. any fire that is intentional like this is considered arson. It was like that where i grow up, if you was doing a controlled burn and you didn't you didn't call the Forestry Service they could charge you with arson.
 @beetle73  @Just my say  @lakeview Hmm, tell technically it sounds like she set 'stuff' on fire and it caught the ground on fire.
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This is similar to starting a fire in your fireplace and having it spread to the carpet near the fireplace. Â It was not intentional, but does that make it arson?
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I get that this was completely stupid thing to do (make a fire in the middle of your bedroom and endangering her kids), but I also understand how 'arson' seems an odd charge unless the intent was to burn the house down, etc. Â
@Just my say  Hmmm. But the fire didn't spread to another home. It is arson if I own my home and set the carpet on fire? Doesn't make sense to me.Â
Hell hath no fury....
 @Exedore Like a woman who thought she might have been scorned?Â
We're from the government and we're here to help. Mother arrested, Kids probably go to DSHS who will hook them up with foster perverts and away we go. She needed help and what did she get? At least they didn't shoot her.
@contraryjim - per the article the kids are with their Dad.
Ban arson immediately! Oh wait, it is banned. Then ban lighters immediately! Then ban matches immediately! Then ban rubbing sticks together immediately! ...Â
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People have posted already that this woman has a long history of crime. Has any of these crimes been violent? Could she be just another known mentally ill person in society that needs help more that just a new ban or law to make us feel good? She could have killed 4 kids in her stupidity.
@Beam_Me_Up LOL- I disagree with the save it comment. A ban on anything that can start a fire including a magnifying glass would stop this violence.. right... I mean after all isnât that the" Ban It" argument basis?
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Or maybe just ban the assault lighters... you know the ones with a really long snout on them, only regular old lighters, or ones that only light up to 10 times. I mean really???
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Like you said this women clearly needs mental help and bans wonât make crazy go away in our society!!
@SchönLicht yeah, because we hear about people lighting fires in their house daily, over 10,000 times a year like with guns. What a stupid arguement, complete fallacy. I'm not some left wing wackjob either. I own two guns, a shotgun and a handgun. I am liberal though, and smart enough to think critically and understand that guns may not kill people, as you argue, however guns are involved in more violent crime and murders as well as suicides than by any other means. Man, you and your pal beam_me_up are not smart at all.
@Landshark @northwestsurfer In 2001 there were 475 deaths attributed to arson in the United States. In 2001, there were also 29,573 deaths attributed to guns; that is accidental and intentional. Intentional count was 11,561 (homicide), and 16,869 (suicide).
Keep trying dude, you people will do anything you can to spin gun violence. Like I said, i am a gun owner myself, but I am smart enough to see facts and think critically. Your arguement just wasted 2 minutes of my life.
 @northwestsurfer That's true, we don't hear about daily arsons like we do with guns.  That's because of news sensationalism.
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The facts are, more than 55,000 arsons occur every year in the U.S.
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http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/property-crime/arsonmain
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The news picks on guns because they love to make articles about people harming people, that's what sells. Â
 @Beam_Me_Up Save it. This is already getting old. Dream up a new argument.
@anon4444 @Beam_Me_Up Thank you. This has nothing to do with guns, and I'm getting tired of the "ban this" arguements as well as "just sayin", and "Darwin"
 @anon4444 I will save it when our society accepts the fact that violent events are the cause of people and not things. I will not standby and watch people try to violence proof our world by removing things instead of taking the appropriate action to reduce violent people in our society. Some people are born to violence for some reason and they are the easy ones to spot, others show violent tendencies and I will admit that others just crack. But this is a perfect example (if she does have a criminal record as other posters have said) why was not more done to prevent this tragedy waiting to happen? She could have killed 4 kids all because society ignored her over and over again.
@Beam_Me_Up @lakeview The difference is "Â knives and then ice picks and then cars and then bottles and bats and screw drivers" have more purposes than just to kill people. You can not say the same for guns.
 @northwestsurfer  @Beam_Me_Up  @anon4444 Annoying but true!
@Beam_Me_Up @anon4444 Get off your soapbox, your arguement is played out and just flat out annoying.
 @lakeview Based upon your logic we should all be locked up in rubber rooms with straight jackets on. Once you ban guns then you will want to ban knives and then ice picks and then cars and then bottles and bats and screw drivers and any other thing that can be used reap violence on other people. Or will you wait until the press tells you the next thing to ban as they have clearly done here. For your own good please stay off any bridges with your friends.
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You have proven that you only care about gun deaths but this is just a percentage of deaths by violence in America. You would rather ignore the common thread to all deaths by violence because by your logic it is an inanimate object that makes people kill. Violence will find ways to kill no matter what is banned or not so why don't we focus on stopping the violence first? It is clear that gun bans have not worked to stop the violence.
@Beam_Me_Up Everyone should have tactical nuclear weapons then going by your fundamentalist logic.Â
Always take the crap you want to burn outside. I am sure she was extrememly upset, but not too smart.
Now she has cut off her nose to spite her face. ):
What a self adsorb b**ch, How can anyone justify that it is OK to burn things in a house over possible infidelity. She did not give a rats a** about those kids, she only cared that her husband may be getting his d*ck wet else where. I am sure these kids are afraid of her now, and I hope to god that this women will never get her kids back. She may end up getting even with her husband by really hurting the kids next time.
 @Just my say Our sexual culture has some weird does and don'ts. The puritanical matting game can be difficult.
Any parent who would start a fire inside the house with their children inside deserves to be behind bars and lose custody. Absolutely appalling.
I think you people are cold and heartless. Granted, what this woman did was not the smartest thing in the world and as one poster mentioned, could easily have been done outside, especially given that it's winter and wet out. But have any of you ever had a spouse be unfaithful? It's devastating. I don't think this woman had any intention of endangering her children and I think it's especially negligent of KOMO to report in the headline that she "set fire to the house with her children inside". They make it sound like she was planning to murder her children. She did not set fire to the house, she set fire to some possessions and had extinguished the fire before emergency personnel arrived. It was 10:00 at night and the kids were in bed. She probably had a bucket of water handy and didn't think the kids would ever know anything about the fire. Again, it's not the smartest thing to do given that fire can easily get out of control and as we see in the story, the smoke is something that needs to be reckoned with perhaps even more so than the fire, but this woman is not a criminal who needs to be put away. Even losing custody of her children is something that's up for debate. Just because she did one not-so-smart thing doesn't mean that her children should be taken away and is a move that I can almost guarantee will convince the 13 year old not to reach out for help in the future, especially if this woman has otherwise been a good mom.
@justathought - maybe the next time she gets pissed off about her old man, she can come to your house with some of his stuff? My Dad cheated on my Mom a couple times, she didn't set fire to his stuff or the house. This kind of thinking is insane.
 @justathought I'm sure similar rationalizing go through the minds of other (normally) law-abiding people when they commit a serious crime.  Law enforcement aren't psychologists - all that they can do is look at the action and the results from an external perspective.  We'll see what the court system decides.
 @justathought But she DID set the house on fire with her kids inside, so why wouldn't they say that? Â
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I worked for years in family law and I saw many, many spouses, both male and female, who had been cheated on, and, yes, it is devastating. Â I saw people who methodically took every picture of the offending spouse and cut only their faces out of the photos, I saw people who drove everything belonging to their spouse to the dump. Â I saw wives who keyed the daylights out of their husband's beloved car, and husbands who hid the family pet with a friend to inflict a sense of loss. Â What I didn't see was someone who endangered the lives of their kids in the process. Â I'm sorry for her emotional pain, but there's just no excusing that.
 @justathought You're a moron.  She's lucky her kids din't end up dead - if she ever sees those kids again it will be a failure of the justice system. She lit a fire INSIDE her house with her kids inside - there's absolutely no excuse for this behavior.  NONE. Â
@justathought Honestly, you are not seeing this situation correctly. His supposed infidelity and her arson are two separate events. If he cheated then that is a matter for husband and wife to talk about. His supposed cheating did not endanger their children, their property or their neighbor's homes. I don't know if her kids should be taken away but she should be made to apologize to them, to her brother (if the uncle is HER brother) and to the fire department. If this had gotten out of hand and her children had died of smoke inhalation or worse....just imagine that. That's why people are so upset about what she did. No need to defend her. Maybe you know her. If so, tell her to thank her lucky stars that nobody got hurt. Maybe next time she'll handle it like an adult.
 @justathought here's a thought - you are wacked out. "she probably had a bucket of water handy" blah blah blah - the crazy B set the house on fire with her kids in it. she sucks as a mom, case closed.
@justathought I think you are a freaking idiot! SHE SET A FIRE IN HER HOUSE WITH HER CHILDREN INSIDE! A bucket of water wouldn't have done any good if the fire would have gotten out of control. SHE ENDANGERED HER CHILDREN! If you don't think so then you are just as crazy as she is.
 @justathought Ya, she's a real sweetheart...
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http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.namelist
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1 Mena, Jenny  Defendant King Co Superior Ct 03-2-18195-1  Available 03-26-2003 2 Mena, Jenny  DEFENDANT Pierce Co Superior 11-2-11852-1  Available 07-26-2011 3 Mena, Jenny Avila Respondent King County District 74-002012 05-01-2007 4 Mena, Jenny Avila Respondent Kcdc-so Div (auk) Y00001160 03-10-2000 5 Mena, Jenny Avila Defendant Kcdc-so Div (swd) C00287237 03-17-1999 6 Mena, Jenny Avila Defendant Pierce Co District XY0452612 12-20-2010 7 Mena, Jenny Avila Defendant King County District I12073611 03-16-2009 8 Mena, Jenny Avila Defendant King County District IU0019565 12-08-2011 9 Mena, Jenny Avila Defendant Kent Municipal Court 2Z0138243 01-12-2012 10 Mena, Jenny Avila Defendant Pierce Co District 1Z0293755 04-28-2011
 @Howard Beale  @justathought Curious that KOMO wouldn't print the name of Jenny Avila Mena after she was charged.Â
 @justathought Ummm, she did set fire to her house with her kids inside. Her kids were fearful for their lives. They called for aid. The relative told them to hide and called 911. A child required medical treatment.
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She is absolutely a criminal that should be put away.
 @Howard Beale  @justathought Well society could put her away, but Washington State Prisons cost the taxpayer roughly $32,000 - $36,000 per inmate, per year.  How long should she be locked up for?  Only 5 years/$160,000?  You decide.  Imagine how many kids could get vaccinated on $160,000...
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Maybe just the loss of custody & parental rights is enough. Â I really am no person to judge, either way the kids will pay one way or another.
 @Howard Beale  @justathought OF COURSE there are no colors (shades) between black & white!!