A woman accused of setting her former girlfriend's porch on fire last year appeared before a Miller County, Ark., judge Tuesday on an arson charge.
Tashaundria Moniek Miller, 27, appeared before Circuit Judge Brent Haltom with public defender Matt Stephens for a pretrial hearing Tuesday. Stephens told Haltom and Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Chuck Black he is asking the court to order an evaluation into Miller's mental state.
Miller is accused of starting a fire May 21, 2016, at a house her former girlfriend was renting in the 1500 block of Prospect Street in Texarkana, Ark., according to a probable cause affidavit used to create the following account. When police and firefighters responded to the house fire at about 11 p.m., the home's occupants expressed a belief Miller could be to blame. The fire appeared to have started on the porch and extended into the attic. When emergency personnel arrived, flames could be seen rising 10 feet into the air.
Miller's former girlfriend told investigators she and Miller had been involved for about two years. The former girlfriend reported that Miller had been following her earlier that day and that the two had pulled over and argued in the parking lot of the Holiday Bowl on State Line Avenue in Texarkana, Ark.
The former girlfriend reported that when she arrived home, she found the front of the residence ablaze. Several days later investigators received an anonymous tip that Miller had purchased the gasoline used to start the fire at Stop N Shop on East Ninth Street in Texarkana, Ark.
Video and audio surveillance footage from the store allegedly confirms the information. Miller can allegedly be seen purchasing $1.25 worth of gas about 15 minutes before the first 911 call reporting the flames was received by dispatchers. Audio recorded during the transaction allegedly captured Miller's voice saying that she, "is fixing to burn this house down."
Investigators attempted May 23, 2016, to contact Miller through her employment at a local hotel. Miller's supervisor allegedly told detectives Miller had called in sick because of burn injuries and showed the officers cellphone pictures Miller allegedly sent her boss of the wounds.
Miller was arrested Nov. 17, 2016, and bail was initially set at $250,000. Bail was reduced to $50,000 during a hearing Dec. 13, 2016. Miller was released on bond with the condition she have no contact with the alleged victim.
Miller's case will not move forward until the mental evaluation has been completed. If convicted of arson resulting in damage between $15,000 and $100,000, Miller faces a fine up to $15,000, six to 30 years in an Arkansas prison or both.