Woman charged with arson in deadly Pa. boarding house fire

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A woman told police that a Pittsburgh boarding house was "filled with demons" before she set it on fire, killing the owner and two other residents, according to a criminal complaint.

But police also say the suspect, Latoya Lyerly, also told investigators she had argued about the volume of a radio the night before Wednesday's fire, and that she had threatened burn down the house.

Lyerly, 42, remained jailed today on charges of criminal homicide, aggravated arson, arson, and causing or risking a catastrophe.

Lyerly told police she'd been living at the house for three weeks after getting kicked out of a YMCA in McKeesport. She said the owner paid her to cook and clean for him since she had no money, and that they quarreled as she cooked spaghetti and hamburgers on Tuesday evening.

Lyerly told police she argued with the home's owner over the volume of her radio. The argument became "very heated and at one point during the argument Lyerly stated that she told [the owner] she was going to burn the [expletive] house down."

The home's 73-year-old owner is named as a victim in the criminal complaint, but his name isn't spelled the same as the name of a victim whose identity was still being confirmed today by the Allegheny County medical examiner's office. The other victims, who were residents of the home, are Gerald Johnson, 68, and Calvin Turner, 56. The medical examiner ruled they died of burns and smoke inhalation.

The fire was reported just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.