CT woman charged with murder after throwing flaming bottle of hand sanitizer

Image+Courtesy+of+NBC.com

Image Courtesy of NBC.com

Cassie O'Neill, Staff Writer

A 28 year old Connecticut woman is now facing charges after allegedly throwing a flaming bottle of hand sanitizer at her girlfriend.

The hand sanitizer ignited a fire which rapidly spread through the five-story apartment, killing one and injuring four. Destiny Waite has now been charged with murder, arson, and four counts of first-degree assault.

During the time of the incident, Waite was enraged with her girlfriend, and according to Hartford Police Lieutenant Paul Cicero, hurled a hand sanitizer bottle that was lit on fire at her girlfriend. The Hartford Fire Department responded to the fire within a minute of being called and quickly triaged the situation.

The fire was reported at 1:22am and within a few minutes, flames were jumping out the windows, officials were receiving multiple reports of people being trapped, and chaos ensued. The heavy smoke and unwieldy structure of the building made fighting the fire difficult and ultimately, one life was lost.

A second simultaneous fire also led to scarce city resources which also caused a lot of panic and disorganization.

The deceased, fifty year old Jerome Kyser, was found during a secondary search of the building.

The Office of the Medical Examiner has classified his death as murder, as he died from smoke inhalation.

Two children and two adults were taken to the hospital and are currently in critical condition, according to sources.

Waite’s defense attorney is arguing that his client was not even at the scene and that the girlfriend injured herself and concocted a tale in order to incriminate Waite.

Waite is currently being held on a $1 million bond after her court appearance on Monday.