GASTONIA, N.C. — Shawn Christenbury said a fire he set at a Gastonia home that killed his girlfriend’s father was an accident.
Christenbury was in court Wednesday. He still had gauze on his arm from the fire he set on Dec. 1 on Brian Circle.
He admitted to throwing gasoline on the house before setting it on fire. However, he told a judge that, “It was an accident.”
He was out on bond the night of the fire after being accused of crimes against his girlfriend Brittney Smith.
“Assault with a deadly weapon, larceny of a motor vehicle, and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” said prosecutor Debbie Gulledge.
About three weeks after he got out on bond for those crimes, police said he poured gas on their home and set it on fire.
Smith grabbed their six-month-old son and got out. Her father, Randy Smith, who was in hospice care for terminal brain cancer, died in the fire.
“I’ll never get to speak to my dad again,” Smith said.
She said her father was her best friend and promised to care for him during his final days.
Smith believes Christenbury went into the home after he set it on fire to save them.
He was burned and taken to a burn center in Winston-Salem.
She said Christenbury called her from the burn center.
“He said he loved us and he never really intended for everything to go up the way it did,” Smith said.
She believes he didn’t mean to set the whole house on fire or hurt anyone, but she reminded him that the outcome was real.
“Sometimes you do things you can’t take back,” Smith said.
She believes he needs mental health assistance, not prison.
However, prosecutors said they still haven’t decided if they will seek the death penalty in this case.
Christenbury was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree attempted murder, and first-degree arson.
He is in jail under no bond.
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