Chicago man also facing arson charges in Hammond fire
A Chicago man is facing multiple charges, including murder, after setting a fire in April at a Hammond house that killed a woman and injured two others, police said.
Ronald Alan Gee, 42, was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of arson resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of arson, Lake County court records show.
Gee is “the estranged husband” of one of the people injured in the fire, Hammond police spokesman Lt. Steve Kellogg said in a news release.
Hammond Police and Fire Departments responded shortly before 2:30 a.m. April 14 to a house fire on Doty Street, Kellogg said.
“Three people were rescued from the home engulfed in flames,” Kellogg said.
Brenda Young Poole, 62, died at an area hospital from smoke inhalation, the release states.
Both of the murder counts filed against Gee are related to Young Poole’s death, court records show.
Young Poole’s son and his girlfriend were treated for smoke inhalation and burns and later released from area hospitals, according to Kellogg and court records.
The girlfriend said she was sleeping in the home when “she heard the fire alarm ring” and Young Poole said the fire was downstairs, a probable cause affidavit states. The son and girlfriend got out through a window on a ladder provided by Hammond firefighters, the affidavit states. The two told firefighters that Young Poole was “still in the house,” court records state.
Hammond Fire Department determined the fire was arson and “firefighters smelled an odor of accelerants around the front porch during their investigation of the fire,” the affidavit states.
A fire inspector viewed surveillance video from the School City of Hammond Administration building, which is “directly across the street” from the house, according to the affidavit.
Investigators watched a man run from “a large fireball” at the house, and his hands and arms appeared to be on fire, the affidavit states. As he ran to an SUV, “the person dropped something flammable and another large fireball was seen,” court records state. The person got in an SUV and headed west toward Calumet City, according to the affidavit.
Young Poole’s son told police that “the only person he could think was upset with him would be (his girlfriend’s) estranged husband, Ronald ‘Ron’ Alan Gee,” the affidavit states.
Gee “consulted with an attorney on the telephone” before he “agreed to speak with investigators,” court records state.
Gee’s hand had “a small burn-like mark,” which he said “was an old injury,” the affidavit states. An investigator said, though, “it did not appear to be old,” court records state.
“Mr. Gee stated that he did not know much about what happened regarding the fire and that he heard about it from someone else,” the affidavit states.
Gee said he “was going through a divorce with his wife” and that she “has been with a man,” according to the affidavit.
The girlfriend told police that on April 11 Gee said “he would agree to a divorce ... if he was able to keep the house and their two children,” the affidavit states. The girlfriend said that Gee “would get the house and kids over her dead body,” according to the affidavit.
“(The girlfriend) stated Mr. Gee then told her that could be arranged,” the affidavit states. “(She) didn’t think much about that at that time.”
Video surveillance showed what appeared to be Gee’s light-colored SUV drive past the house on Doty Street twice “just prior to the arson,” according to the affidavit.
“Mr. Gee indicated that he was the only person to drive the vehicle,” the affidavit states.
Gee’s cellphone “indicated he used Google” to find the address of the house on Doty Street at 12:15 a.m., “two hours prior to the fire,” court records state.
Gee is scheduled Monday for a formal appearance in Lake Superior Court, according to court records.
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