Woman accused of murder, arson after man dies in Mesa apartment fire

A woman has been accused of arson and first-degree murder after a man died in an apartment fire in Mesa back in June.

On June 8, a fire had damaged three apartment units near Power and Broadway roads. A man and woman were found outside the complex with severe burns to their body.

Both were taken to the Maricopa County Burn Unit with life-threatening injuries.

The 42-year-old man, who has not been named, died in the hospital on June 25. The woman, 40-year-old Stephanie Williams, had been in a medically-induced coma until she woke up earlier this week.

Williams reportedly recounted being on fire, breaking a window open to escape, talking to someone who poured water on her, and her trip in the ambulance, but claimed she could not remember anything before the flames broke out.

An investigation revealed that the fire had started from the bed that the man had been lying on that day.

"The location of the victim’s burn injuries suggest that when he was burned, he was laying on his stomach on the bed," Mesa police said in a statement.

Officers arrested Williams and transported her by ambulance to the Maricopa County Jail, citing their interview with her and "evidence recovered from the investigation."

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