A fatal Galveston fire last month was started by a man possibly seeking retribution over an unpaid drug debt, according to court documents related to a capital murder charge filed Monday.
Courtney Thompson, 20, of Dickinson, was charged with capital murder and three counts of aggravated assault in connection to the Feb. 29 fire that killed Renita Hawthorne.
The fire ripped through a home in the 700 block of 39th Street, in a heavily residential area just north of Broadway. Hawthorne, 55, was a mother of six children. She died trying to get people out of the house, her family told ABC 13 in the aftermath of the early morning fire. Three people escaped the house after the fire began, police said.
Island authorities were quick to say they suspected arson, but didn’t immediately provide more details.
Charging documents released Tuesday show that hours after the fire, Hawthorne’s son began receiving texts from a person claiming to be responsible for the fire, according to a criminal complaint. The son told police that he was being threatened because he had bought marijuana from a man and had been unable to pay his debt.
The son wasn’t in the house at the time of the fire, according to the complaint.
Police connected Thompson to the fire through a group of videos collected near the scene and sent in by informants.
Thompson was seen buying two gas cans, cigars and gas the afternoon before the fire, according to police. He was also known to carry a retractable lighter, according to the complaint.
Fire investigators believe that a fire was lit on two sets of stairs that lead into the house, which was raised on stilts, like many houses in the flood-prone part of the island. Hawthorne died due to burns and smoke inhalation, according to the charging documents. Thompson was seen walking toward the house with gas cans before the fire, and running away from the home after it began, according to the complaint.
Thompson was arrested on Friday, according to the Galveston Police Department.
The complaint names two other men as being involved in the threats or the gas purchase. Neither has been charged in connection to the fire as of Tuesday, according to Galveston County court records.
Thompson did not have a listed defense attorney as of Tuesday afternoon. He was being held in the Galveston County Jail on a combined $1 million bond, according to jail records.
