An Ashley man was indicted for arson and attempted aggravated murder Friday for allegedly starting a fire at his home with his mother inside last weekend.
Christopher M. Richardson, 26, was indicted by a Delaware County Grand Jury and charged with one count of attempted aggravated murder, a first-degree felony and two counts of arson, one first-degree felony and one second-degree felony.
On the morning of Jan. 28, officials received numerous calls about a house fire at 10 Vine Street, in Ashley and fire fighters were immediately dispatched.
“On scene, the home was engulfed in flames,” said Delaware County Prosecutor, Carol O’Brien. “A woman who had been inside the home was transported to Ohio State University Hospital where she remains for treatment.”
According to the official report and the 911 calls, the woman who was inside the home was Christopher’s mother, Donna Marie Richardson, 57.
According to the 911 call, Donna Richardson was able to leave the house before firefighters arrived, but could not locate her son and believed he was still inside.
“The house is just burning and Chris… We can’t find him,” a neighbor told the dispatcher in the 911 call. The neighbor said that Donna Richardson along with other neighbors had thrown bricks through Christopher’s window in an attempt to find him and had walked around the burning home to try and locate him.
Christopher Richardson was apprehended later that day.
According to the indictment, Christopher Richardson “did purposefully engage in conduct that if successful would have cause or result in the death of Donna Richardson…”
An arraignment for Richardson has not yet been scheduled in Delaware County Common Pleas Court. Common Pleas Judge David Gormley will preside over the case.
Richardson appeared in Delaware Municipal Court on Jan. 30 where Judge David Sunderman set his bond at $500,000.
Christopher Richardson was in the Delaware County Jail Friday.
