Woman arrested for intentionally setting her mother's home on fire in Anne Arundel County
BALTIMORE -- An Anne Arundel County woman has been arrested and charged after she allegedly set her elderly mother's house on fire.
Laurie Canavan is facing attempted murder and arson charges after a home on Carroll Street in Churchton caught fire early on October 24.
The mother, who is in her 70s, escaped the fire by pushing the window air conditioner unit out of a bedroom window and jumping out.
Neighbors told WJZ they were awakened by the fire about an hour before sunrise.
"When we looked out our windows the whole back of the house was engulfed in flames," said a neighbor, who didn't want to be identified. "I grabbed my robe and I just screamed, 'God, please don't let them be burned."
The neighbor said her husband called 911 and she ran outside, hoping her neighbors across the street had made it out from the burning house.
"The owner of the house, bless her heart, came walking around the front," the neighbor said. "I was so thankful to see her and I said, 'Where is everybody?' She said, 'They're out.'"
According to charging documents, Canavan, the homeowner's adult daughter, allegedly threw gasoline on her mother and lit her on fire.
The documents go on to say the fire spread, trapping the homeowner inside. But she was able to escape with only second-degree burns to her legs.
"I'm surprised she didn't get hurt worse, and she truly feels that it was God that delivered her in that moment," the neighbor said. "And I would say that is what happened."
Investigators said Canavan was found in a nearby yard and was taken to the hospital.
Fire investigators confirmed the fire was intentionally set.
The homeowner was treated at a local burn center and was recently released.
Her neighbor says she's recovering as well as she can.
"With a lot of love around her, her sisters, her brother-in-law and her neighbors, and a lot of prayer," the neighbor said.
She's being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center without bond.