Police: Man lights girlfriend ablaze in Bensalem motel, killing her
A Philadelphia man faces murder charges in Bucks County after he allegedly pumped gasoline into a Wawa coffee cup early Sunday, returned to a Bensalem motel room where he had been staying with his girlfriend, then tossed the gasoline onto her face and lit her on fire, killing her, according to a criminal complaint.
A Philadelphia man faces murder charges in Bucks County after he allegedly pumped gasoline into a Wawa coffee cup early Sunday, returned to a Bensalem motel room where he had been staying with his girlfriend, then tossed the gasoline onto her face and lit her on fire, killing her, according to a criminal complaint.
Kevin Small, 45, was charged Sunday with homicide, arson, and related counts for allegedly killing Melissa Bacon-Smith, 46, of Philadelphia, at the Lincoln Motel at 2277 Lincoln Highway, Bensalem police said Sunday.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, authorities discovered Bacon-Smith lying facedown on the floor of a first-floor motel room after the fire - which was first reported at 2:19 a.m. - was extinguished.
The room next door was registered to Small, the affidavit said. Police found Small at Southampton and Byberry Roads later Sunday, with visible burns on his hands; he smelled of gasoline.
Since 1995, police have arrested Small more than a dozen times, according to Pennsylvania criminal records, in cases from Philadelphia, Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties. His rap sheet includes guilty pleas to theft, identity theft, forgery and drunken driving.
On February 24, 2014, an anticrime task force found 292 packages of heroin at a home in Wilkes-Barre in a bust that snared Small and a 43-year-old woman, according to Wilkes-Barre police records. The drugs were packaged for distribution, according to police information, and police also found $2,790 in the home. Small was sentenced in November 2014 to a minimum of two years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of drug dealing. Court records did not make clear why or when he was released before serving his full sentence.
After being treated for the burns on his hands the affidavit said, Small told detectives he had been "angry" with Bacon-Smith. He said that he simply threw the cup of gasoline into Bacon-Smith's face while she was smoking in the hotel room. After she caught on fire, he walked out, he told detectives, according to the affidavit.
Small's mother, however, told detectives her son had called her earlier and said that he "threw gasoline on [Bacon-Smith's] face," and that she "looked like Freddy Krueger," according to the affidavit.
Detectives recovered surveillance video of Small filling a Wawa coffee cup with gasoline around 1:29 a.m. and taking a pack of matches from the register, the affidavit said.
Surveillance video from the motel also recorded him entering the room he had been sharing with Bacon-Smith around 1:36 a.m., the affidavit said. Less than an hour later, Small's room was ablaze.
Bacon-Smith was declared dead around 6 a.m., according to the affidavit. Small was arraigned Sunday and remained in custody without bail, police said.
The first floor of the motel was damaged, the affidavit said, and there was "heavy smoke" during the fire. The Red Cross helped displaced guests find other accommodations, police said.
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