Apartment complex arsonist pleads guilty

A defendant in a 2020 arson that took place at a senior apartment complex in Gray entered a guilty plea in Jones County Superior Court.

Brandon James Morton pleaded guilty to all three counts for which he was charged in the Feb. 16 proceeding. He received 10 years each for the charges of burglary in the first degree and arson in the first degree and five years for criminal damage to property in the second degree.

The counts are to run concurrently for a total of 10 years with the first three years served in confinement.

Morton will receive credit for time he has served in custody from Dec. 3, 2020.

A News story about Morton’s arrest states that the suspect was located by law enforcement officers in Euclid, Ohio, Nov. 17, less than 24 hours after the arson took place in Gray. Investigator Maj. Chris Williams with the Gray Police Department said he received a phone call from a state fire marshal that Morton had been taken into custody without incident.

The suspect was wanted for a Nov. 16 fire at Dulles Park Apartments. The fire was discovered by GPD Officer Daniel Pointer before it got out of hand and spread to other apartments.

In his report of the incident, Pointer said he received a ‘be on the lookout’ alert for a black Mazda SUV with a California plate that was possibly headed to the apartment complex. The BOLO stated that the driver was a suspect in an aggravated assault and arson out of Henry County.

The officer said the suspect was believed to be headed to the apartments because he thought his mother lived there. Pointer said he went to Dulles Park to look for the vehicle, but while he was scanning the parking lot, he saw heavy black smoke coming from an apartment.

Pointer reported the fire and took the fire extinguisher from his patrol car to attempt to put out the blaze. He said the front door of the apartment was open and the couch near the front door was on fire.

The officer said he used the fire extinguisher to spray the couch and announced himself to anyone who might be inside. Due to the heavy smoke, he was not able to stay in the apartment long.

Pointer said GPD Lt. Jacob Hunnicutt arrived and started getting other tenants in the building out. It was also found out from neighbors the tenant living in the burning apartment had been taken to dialysis earlier that morning.

The officer said he and Hunnicutt were able to find two more extinguishers and attempted to slow the blaze until fire units could arrive. He also had dispatch verify that the resident of the apartment was at dialysis.

Pointer said the ambulance attendants who had transported the resident that morning came back to check because of a suspicious tall black male they saw walking around the apartments when they picked up the dialysis patient.

All four tires of one of the cars in the parking lot had been slashed, and the officer said there had been an attempt to steal the tag.

Pointer said he spoke to Gray Fire Chief Keith Eisele when he arrived and informed him that the apartment was a crime scene. The chief said he would preserve the scene as much as possible. Eisele also said he would report the fire to the state fire marshal due to the suspected arson.

Pointer said the scene was turned over to the fire marshal and GFD fire personnel for investigation. The officer said he secured warrants on Morton for first-degree arson, burglary and criminal damage to property.

The office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire subsequently issued a media release with information about Morton. Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King said it was suspected that Morton was linked to fires in Metro Atlanta and South Georgia.

Williams said there was no connection between Morton and the resident of the apartment he set on fire, other than the victim lived in the same complex where he thought his mother lived.

The investigator added it was believed that the fire Morton set in Henry County was an attempt to harm his father.