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Maryland State Police said they expect to make more arrests for the deadly fire that burned through a Washington County house.
CLEAR SPRING, Md. — A house fire that initial reports said killed three people in the Washington County town of Clear Spring earlier this month has turned into a triple murder investigation, with Maryland State Police announcing four arrests on Saturday.
Darnell Hawkins, 47, of Baltimore; Tony Smith, 43, of Hagerstown; Maurice Mouzon, 46, of Baltimore and Kierra White, 35, of Glen Burnie were arrested between Nov. 21 and Friday.
Hawkins and Smith were charged with three counts of first-degree murder, first-degree arson and related offenses. Mouzon was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, distribution of narcotics and a handgun violation.
White, the only woman suspect identified by state police, was charged with acting as an accessory after the fact to murder.
Two women and a man were killed in the house fire, which burned through a house on the 13000 block of National Pike in Clear Spring in the early morning of Nov. 18. Police said the victims were Brittany Ray, 31, Harold Flichman, 36, and Brianna Mae Weishaar, 25 — all of whom police said lived inside the house.
State police said their officers suspected foul play after a K-9 unit discovered accelerants at the house and trauma to the victims that were apparently inconsistent with fire-related injuries.
“Investigators believe this was not a random act of violence,” MSP wrote on Saturday.
Autopsy results were still pending, though, as state police waited for results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore.
In total, 60 firefighters from 13 different fire services in the area responded to the fire, which they were able to put out within half an hour. Two dogs were rescued from the fire and taken to the SPCA for care.
The four suspects were held without bond at four different jails throughout Maryland, including the Baltimore County and Montgomery County detention centers, the Baltimore Central Booking Intake Facility and the Washington County Detention Center.
MSP said its homicide unit expects to make more arrests in connection with the deadly house fire as the investigation remained active on Saturday. The Office of the State Fire Marshal, the FBI, the Hagerstown Police Department, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the Office of the State’s Attorney in Washington County were all involved in the investigation.
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