03122013 Man admits he set house fire that killed ex-girlfriends child 8 | Detroit Free Press | freepcom

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Man admits he set house fire that killed ex-girlfriends child 8

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Karrina Johnson 8 died after she was trapped in her mothers home on Young Street during a November 2012 fire Family photo

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03122013 Man admits he set house fire that killed ex-girlfriends child 8 | Detroit Free Press | freepcom

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Jesse Tatum faces several decades in prison after pleading guilty in

the death last year of an 8-year-old girl

The day before his trial was to begin Tatum 25 pleaded guilty to

second-degree murder in the Nov 29 2012 death of Karrina

Johnson

She died in a house fire at her home at 17 Young St and this

afternoon Tatum admitted he started the blaze

ldquoI set the house on firerdquo Tatum told Calhoun County Circuit Court

Judge Conrad Sindt ldquoI poured gas on the couch and lit itrdquo

The couch was on the front porch and Tatum

claimed he didnrsquot know that three children

were inside

ldquoI didnrsquot think they were present at the timerdquo he

said ldquoI knocked on the door and didnrsquot hear

anythingrdquo

But Karrina Johnson and her brother Devin

15 and sister Hevin 10 Johnson were

asleep The two older children were able to

escape Battle Creek firefighters found

Karrina still inside the burning house She was

taken to Bronson Methodist Hospital in

Kalamazoo where she later died

Battle Creek police later charged Tatum a

former boyfriend of the childrenrsquos mother

Janeen Johnson 37

Johnson sat in the front room of the

spectatorrsquos section and watched and listened

as Tatum was questioned by Judge Sindt and

entered the guilty plea

ldquoI am glad he owned up to it because he knew

he did itrdquo Johnson said later ldquoAt least be a

man and maybe this is a step toward him becoming a manrdquo

Johnson said she talked with Det Scott Eager of the Battle Creek

By Trace Christenson

Gannett Michigan

FILED UNDER

Local News

Michigan News

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Jesse Tatum with his attorney Mike Lind TraceChristensonThe Enquirer

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03122013 Man admits he set house fire that killed ex-girlfriends child 8 | Detroit Free Press | freepcom

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Police Department and Assistant Prosecutor Tamara Towns before

agreeing to the plea agreement

ldquoThey have never steered me wrong and they have been working so

long on thisrdquo Johnson said ldquoShe (Towns) said it was the best thing to

dordquo

With the plea Johnson said she wonrsquot have to rely on a trial and jury

decision and knows Tatum will likely receive a long prison sentence

ldquoJudge Sindt they convinced me of him being a toughierdquo Johnson

said

Towns said the plea was important because Johnson could finally

hear what happened and begin to put the event behind her without

sitting through a trial

With his plea Johnson faces up to life in prison with a minimum

sentence of several decades in prison He could be paroled

eventually He was scheduled to face a trial Tuesday on charges of

felony murder and arson and if convicted of those charges he would

have been sentenced to life without parole

The fire was reported about 2 am and Tatum told the judge he was

angry because of an earlier altercation with Johnson and his two

sisters at a party

He said the women came uninvited to the party and wouldnrsquot leave He

alleged that Johnson broke some windows before they finally left

Angry Tatum said he was with another man Michael Roberson when

he bought some gasoline and then went to the home where he started

the fire about 90 minutes after the argument with Johnson

Tatum insisted he knocked on the door of the house and when no one

answered and there were no lights or TV on and no car in the drive

assumed no one was at home

ldquoI didnrsquot think that because she (Johnson) was out partying that she

would leave her kids thererdquo Tatum told the judge

But Tatum said he had lived at the home and knew about the three

children and Towns argued that he should have assumed someone

Senior ProgramAnalystHCL Global Systems Inc

03122013 Man admits he set house fire that killed ex-girlfriends child 8 | Detroit Free Press | freepcom

wwwfreepcomarticle20131203NEWS06312030052Man-pleads-guilty-fire-killed-Michigan-girl 46

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might be sleeping in the house

ldquoYou light a house on fire and you assume that riskrdquo Towns told the

judge ldquoIt was 2 am when people would be sleepingrdquo

Roberson was charged with being accessory to the crime and

entered a plea to a lesser charge and in exchange was expected to

testify against Tatum Police also said they had a receipt from a gas

station linked to Tatum and showing he purchased just over 30 cents

worth of gas just before the fire was reported

Tatum remains in the county jail and will be sentenced Jan 6

Trace Christenson is a reporter for the Battle Creek Enquirer

View Comments (5) | Share your thoughts raquo

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