Trial concluded in a single day for Karen Brafman, who was found guilty of first-degree arson, second-degree arson and six counts of attempted murder by a jury Monday afternoon.
The jury also recommended a life sentence for the first-degree arson charge, with sentences for the attempted murder of two adults and four children and the second-degree arson to run concurrently with the life sentence. Brafman will have to serve at least 20 years of the sentence before she can become eligible for parole.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling says both he and the family are pleased with the verdict.
During the sentencing phase of trial Craig Calloway—one of the adult victims in the case—says he’s had multiple issues with Brafman and that his children have been mentally and emotionally damaged by the incident.
Brafman set fire to the residence Calloway, Ashley Webster and four children were living in on Princeton Road last May. Webster testified Brafman had banged on her door looking for Calloway at 2 a.m. on the morning of the fire and she smelled smoke and found flames at both ends of her trailer when she woke up to prepare for work shortly after 5 a.m.
She and Calloway used a garden hose and water pitcher to get the fires mostly extinguished before West Side firefighters arrived. Everyone escaped the home without injury. The incident was pursued as a hate crime that was racially motivated.