The incident happened on Friday, June 16 when 39-year-old Java Wright set a house on fire, leading to the death of 72-year-old Willie Greer. The whole thing was caught on video and streamed live on Facebook Live by neighbors. Wright is now facing two felony charges – first degree homicide and arson. Should she be convicted, she will face a maximum sentence of up to 100 years behind bars.
As reported by the Seattle Times, a criminal complaint was filed Wednesday where Wright has been accused of smashing the windows of a first floor apartment in a building in Milwaukee, before pouring gas through the window from a gas can and setting it alight.
The Facebook Live video showed her reaching inside the window a moment before the fire began.
Woman approaches the home and breaks a window
According to a video released by TMJ4, witnesses at the scene said they saw Wright approach the home. She had told them to make sure nobody came out before her brothers arrived. They said she ran to the garage and came out with a red gas can in her hand. Wright then broke the window and asked the neighbors if they had a lighter. They told her they didn’t have a lighter. Another man says they knew there were people inside the home because she was trying to get inside to fight with someone.
Milwaukee woman charged with homicide in fatal arson caught on Facebook Live: https://t.co/n9oeTfrKh3 pic.twitter.com/njOAAODIAm
— TODAY'S TMJ4 (@tmj4) June 21, 2017
Fire breaks out in the home, killing one man
Wright then climbed on a chair and threw gas through the window, soaking the inside of the home and the next thing they knew there were flames coming from the house.
On the video, we can hear a woman calling 911 and telling emergency dispatchers there is a fire on 12th and Wright.
As the house fire spread, the men saw a woman jump out of the window, yelling that there were more people inside the house and that they needed help. The men ran to the house and kicked in the door, but were unable to enter as there was too much smoke.
They could hear a man screaming on the other side of the house, but couldn’t get to him. Wright was then seen to walk around the building and out of the camera’s viewpoint. Following the incident, firefighters found Greer’s badly burned body inside the building.
According to investigators, the criminal complaint quotes Wright as saying she started the fire to “get back” at her boyfriend.
The couple had reportedly been fighting earlier that day and Wright became angry after he poked her in the eye. Wright went on to say that she didn’t intend to hurt Greer. She is currently being held at the Milwaukee County jail.
