Suspect in arson arraigned

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A woman accused of setting a fire at a South Side apartment building Sunday was arraigned Friday in municipal court.

Sonya Shannon, 36, of Lois Court, is in the Mahoning County jail on $50,000 bond after her arraignment before Judge Robert Milich on a charge of aggravated arson.

Shannon is accused of setting a fire in the entrance way to the Lois Court apartment building where she lives about 9:30 p.m. Sunday. No one was injured, and firefighters were able to extinguish the fire very quickly, reports said.

She was not there when firefighters arrived but was taken into custody about 1 p.m. Thursday after someone spotted her walking in the 1300 block of Market Street and called police.

Assistant Prosecutor Kathy Thompson listed a string of past arrests or convictions for Shannon, stopping at 16 but saying there were more.

Shannon asked the judge for a bond of just $1,000 or a 10 percent bond, saying she does not work and cannot afford a high bond. The judge, however, denied her request.

The charge is a second-degree felony, the second-highest level of felony in Ohio.