Guyana dorm fire: Teen girl charged with 19 counts of murder

A teenage girl accused of setting a deadly fire at her boarding school dormitory in Guyana was charged as an adult with 19 counts of murder on Monday.

The 15-year-old suspect has not been publicly identified by authorities. She was detained shortly after the blaze erupted on May 21 at Mehdia Secondary School in the small South American country.

More than 50 people were inside the government boarding school when the blaze started. Eighteen indigenous girls, all between the ages of 12 and 18, died in the fire. The 19th victim, a 5-year-old boy, was the son of the school’s house mother.

More than two dozen additional students were injured in the fire, including the suspect. All five doors to the building were locked from the outside, and the house mother panicked and fumbled the keys, trapping everyone inside the burning building until firefighters broke through a wall.

Investigators quickly determined the 15-year-old girl set the fire intentionally. She was upset with school leaders after they confiscated her cellphone and threatened to burn the place down shortly before doing exactly that, according to police.

School officials said the girl’s phone was taken because she’d been using it to contact an adult man she was having an affair with. The unnamed man is expected to face statutory rape charges.

Such relationships are apparently not uncommon at the school, as administrators said the doors were locked to prevent the girls from sneaking into town. All the students were between 12 and 18 years old.

The 15-year-old suspect did not enter a plea at Monday’s hearing. She will remain in custody until at least July 5, when she’s due back in court. If convicted, she could be sentenced to life in prison.

With News Wire Services