A 29-year-old South Carolina man confessed to setting his girlfriend’s home on fire while she and her children slept inside after cell phone records placed him at the home, according to 8th Circuit Solicitor David M. Stumbo.
Jorge Mora-Vahena pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree arson and one count of first-degree assault and battery, Stumbo announced Wednesday.
Circuit Judge Eugene C. Griffith Jr. sentenced Mora-Vahena to 10 years in prison on the arson charge and five years in prison on the assault charge, with that sentence suspended to 30 months. The sentences are to run consecutively.
The fire happened in September 2022.
Mora-Vahena’s girlfriend and her two children made it out of the home, but their family pet did not.
The home was destroyed.
Following an investigation by the Newberry Fire Department, Newberry Police Department, and Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, it was determined that the fire had been intentionally set.
Stumbo said Mora-Vahena’s phone records placed him at home at the time of the fire. When confronted with the phone records, Mora-Vahena confessed to starting the fire, Stumbo said.
“It takes a malicious, evil heart to set a home on fire where children are sleeping,” Solicitor Stumbo said. “I am pleased that Jorge Mora-Vahena will be behind bars for a long time, and we will continue to stand with our partners in law enforcement to fight this scourge of domestic violence in our communities.”
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