Mom In Custody After Allegedly Trying To Kill 11-Year-Old Son In Fire

LASALLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WWJ) - A woman is in custody after allegedly trying to set her young son on fire in an attempt to kill him.

Sheriff's deputies were called to a home in Frenchtown Township by the suspect's husband, who said he feared that his wife may have harmed their son.

Around the same time a call came in to police that indicated the family car was on fire at the Roselawn Memorial Park, a cemetery, on South Dixie Highway in LaSalle Township.

The car, a 2014 Ford Focus, was emitting smoke from the passenger compartment, but the 48-year-old mother and 11-year-old son could not be found, officials said.

Deputies later located the two in a different part of the cemetery.

According to investigators, the mom bound her son at the wrists, locked him inside the car and then tried to start a fire in the trunk of the vehicle with her son still inside. As the boy struggled to free himself the mom poured gasoline inside the passenger compartment where the boy sat. The fire did not ignite and at some point the mom freed her son from the car -- and the two walked toward a cemetery employee who untied the boy from the bindings.

The mom was arrested, evaluated at an area hospital and then jailed. Her son was taken to an area hospital -- where he was treated and released.

The mom is facing expected attempted murder and arson charges.