Former Tenant Charged With Arson

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - While the back of a home in the 800 block of Semmes was burning Tuesday morning, Darrelton Wilson was fast asleep up front.

"If it weren't for citizens passing by on their way to work, I may have perished in the fire," he said.

Wilson's former neighbor, 23 year old Ashley Sykes is accused of intentionally starting the blaze in a back bedroom.

"I woke up to people banging on my door and my windows telling me to get out," Wilson says.

Wilson, who rents the front of the home, says Sykes rented the rear of the house until last week. That's when he says their landlord evicted her for not paying rent. Wilson says he was there that day and says he heard Sykes make a threat.

"She would burn the *bleep* down, that no one would be able to live here," Wilson recalled.

According to Memphis Police records, Sykes still had a key at the time of the fire and Wilson says she was arrested after driving by the home hours after firefighters managed to put it out.

"She just passed by and fire investigators pointed out and said that's the car I'd seen right there in front of the house," said Wilson.

Sykes has been charged with aggravated arson. The Memphis Fire Department says how the fire was started is still under investigation but it managed to spread to about 50 percent of the home.

"Arson is a devastating fire. Of course, it brings devastation not only to homes and personal property but oftentimes to individuals," said Lt. Wayne Cooke with the Memphis Fire Department.

Wilson says he owes his life to the strangers who saw the house burning and woke him up. He says he's relieved his portion of the home is fire damage free but says he's still shaken up by the circumstances.

"She didn't think about my well being. She didn't use good judgment at all," he said.