RICHMOND, Va. — Just a couple weeks before a 25-year-old woman allegedly set her grandmother's house on fire, which led to the deaths of her grandmother and great aunt, she was arrested on charges in Richmond and released from jail.
A criminal complaint filed in Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court claimed that back in August, 25-year-old Alicia Newman tried to hit the father of her children with her car while four of their kids were in that vehicle.
The father reported he was able to move out of the way, and then Newman lost control of the car and ran it into an apartment on Delmont Street, causing damages over $1,000.
The complaint alleged Newman then left the scene of the crash.
More than a month later, on October 3, she was arrested for aggravated assault, felony child endangerment, reckless driving, and hit and run.
A magistrate initially decided to keep Newman held in jail without bail, and her defense attorney with the Richmond Public Defender's Office expectedly filed a motion seeking bond. No records exist of the Commonwealth filing a response to the bond motion.
After a hearing on October 6, a judge granted a $2,000 bond on the conditions that she would not make contact with the alleged victim and comply with any recommendations from the Department of Social Services.
“Here the charges that she faced — those are very common charges. The courts see them all the time, and I'm not surprised that she was released on bond," CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said after reviewing court records in the case.
Stone said bond is almost expected in a case like this since the allegations lacked serious injury or death and Newman did not have an extensive criminal record before the incident occurred.
He added the incident being domestic in nature may have also played a role in the bond decision.
"Judges see those things all the time, and they get kind of accustomed to seeing domestic charges. They see many that don't hold water, and they can't be justified in the end. So the fact that it's domestic related, I think that is something that probably tends to make her more releasable than subject to being held in jail," Stone said. “There are plenty of judges who might have held her in this situation, and there's plenty of jurisdictions where she might have been more likely to be held. But again, the jails can't be filled with people who might commit a new offense when they're presumed innocent at that time.”
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin said she could not publicly comment on an active case. CBS 6 also reached out to the public defender's office and did not hear back.
Newman is now charged with arson in Chesterfield County and accused of setting a house on fire over the weekend. Police said two elderly sisters, Hazel Johnson and Evelyn Newman were inside at the time of the fire and later died at a hospital. Alicia Newman was Evelyn Newman's granddaughter, according to police.
A criminal complaint in the house fire case alleged the home’s security company received an alarm notice about two hours before firefighters responded to the burning home.
A detective wrote the security company spoke to a female through the security panel “who stated that everything was fine, but would not give her information.”
Court documents showed once inside the home, Chesterfield County Fire Marshals discovered two smoke detectors were taken down from the ceiling with the batteries removed.
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“Additionally, Fire Marshals discovered that an accelerate [sic] was used outside of Evelyn’s door. Fire Marshals located a Gatorade Bottle [sic] that they believe was used to carry the accelerate [sic],” the complaint alleged.
Newman, who does not have a permanent address, is being held without bond in the Chesterfield County Jail, according to officials.
A family member who traveled from Maryland after hearing the news told CBS 6 that Evelyn would allow Alicia and her children to stay at the home. However, he said Alicia was asked to leave following an argument.
“Another neighbor states that they recently spoke with Evelyn Newman, who complained that her granddaughter, Alicia was upset because the house was not being left to her in Evelyn’s will,” the complaint said.
CBS 6 reached out to Newman's court-appointed defense attorney in the Chesterfield matter, and she declined to comment.
Stone said while the allegations in Chesterfield are very serious, judges can only consider the evidence in front of them at the time of making a decision.
"Obviously, judges wish that they could know what's going to happen in the future, but it's a guess, and there's always a presumption that someone be released on bond, rather than held in jail," he said.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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