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Pair get year in jail for Firestone Mansion arson, Old Mill vandalism
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
The two people who admitted destroying a historic mansion in an arson and also vandalizing Lanterman’s Mill in Mill Creek Park said at their sentencing they were under the influence of drugs used to cope with life’s ups and downs.
Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said, however, they needed to learn how to deal with adversity by not getting high.
He sentenced Alexis Little, 20, and Brian McKinney, 21, both of Youngstown, on Tuesday to five years’ probation, which includes a year in the county jail, for the fire that destroyed the Firestone mansion in North Lima last October and the spray-painting of the mill just a couple of days later.
The judge said the mix was a volatile one that led to both incidents.
“Two wrong people together at the wrong time who each thought they had the weight of the world on their shoulders,” Judge D’Apolito said.
The pair pleaded guilty May 27 to a fourth-degree felony arson charge and a charge of vandalism, a fifth-degree felony. Lawyers for both said their clients have no criminal records and a history of substance abuse, but both have checked themselves into counseling and accepted responsibility for their actions.
The mansion was a two-story, 2,720-square-foot house with eight bedrooms. It was built at its original site adjacent to the Firestone tire-testing facility in 1880 by the Lower family, relatives of millionaire businessman Harvey Firestone. The house also was known as the Lower Homestead.
Tom and Connie Ellison bought the home in 2011 and were renovating it to sell at the time of the Oct. 21 fire.
McKinney apologized to the Ellisons, saying he had just learned at the time that he could not join the armed services because he failed a background check and he was devastated and turned to drugs.
Judge D’Apolito asked him why he decided to destroy property. McKinney said he had no answer.
“I honestly can’t say why I did, either,” McKinney said. “I wasn’t in my right state of mind. We just acted on a crazy impulse.”
Little also apologized to the Ellisons and the park board, saying she was going through several crises at the time, including worries about her mother’s health and a friend who was injured in a car accident.
When the judge asked her why they picked the mansion to set ablaze, she said she had seen it once and was told it was vacant.
Connie Ellison told the judge how they were impressed by the handiwork inside the home when they first saw it and had the home moved about 900 feet. She said it was impossible for her and her husband to own the mansion, but they wanted to fix it up for someone else to have.
“The question of why this crime was committed and the emotional scars will remain forever,” Ellison said.
Little and McKinney were spotted on video getting gasoline near the mansion, and authorities found several gas cans. While they searched the car, authorities also found the spray paint used in the vandalism at the mill.
The two also must pay about $1,000 restitution to Mill Creek Park and about $150,000 restitution to the Ellisons. They have to register as arson offenders with the sheriff’s office for 10 years.