HARTSELLE, AL – A woman from Hartselle is accused of setting her ex-boyfriend’s home on fire after allegedly becoming enraged when he declined to attend a concert with her, authorities said.
Amy Beth Taylor, 46, faces a first-degree arson charge following a fire that broke out last week at a residence on Peek Road. Deputies with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene on Sept. 25, finding firefighters battling the blaze and several people gathered nearby.
According to court documents, investigators determined that the fire started shortly after Taylor visited the property. Witnesses told deputies that Taylor, described as “irate” at the scene, had walked into a shed before threatening to set the building or the house on fire. The reported argument stemmed from Taylor’s anger over her ex-boyfriend’s refusal to accompany her to a Lil Wayne concert in Huntsville the night prior to the incident.
Shortly after Taylor left the shed, another woman living on the property called a friend and reported that her room was rapidly filling with smoke. When she exited her room, she discovered that the rest of the house was also engulfed in smoke. She managed to escape the building unharmed and contacted emergency services.
Taylor was arrested by sheriff’s deputies on the day of the fire and has been held at the Morgan County Jail since. Her bail has been set at $20,000. As part of her bond conditions, a judge ordered Taylor to have no contact with the property owner or any of the witnesses involved in the case.
During a court hearing Monday, an investigator with the sheriff’s office testified that Taylor admitted visiting her ex-boyfriend’s property after the concert. She reportedly acknowledged in a statement that she had joked in the past about burning down the house but denied setting the fire, according to officials. Taylor also claimed she had consumed alcohol before the incident and expressed frustration over being ignored by her former partner.
Authorities added that Taylor told witnesses at the scene that she was visibly upset and had been drinking. She allegedly repeated her earlier threats about “catching the shed or his house on fire,” investigators said.
In addition to the arson charge, Taylor now faces three counts of chemical endangerment to a child after authorities alleged that three of her six children had been exposed to methamphetamine.
Taylor currently remains in custody pending further court proceedings. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, and firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control before it spread to neighboring properties. The case remains under investigation by local authorities.