Chesterfield Township, MI. — Just In Press Release (This story will be updated):
On April 1st, 2015 at approximately 1:40am, Chesterfield Officers responded to a 911 call of a structure fire in the 52200 block of Harrisburg Lane. Upon their arrival they confirmed that (3) adult residents and (3) small children, ages 5, 3, and 1 years old, had made it out of the home safely. Officers observed small areas around the homes doorways still burning.
Chesterfield Fire Fighters arrived and immediately concluded with Officers that the burning areas of the home smelled heavily of gasoline and that the fire was intentionally set around the doorways while the residents were inside the home.
The 33 year old male homeowner told the Officers that at around 1:40 a.m. he began smelling gasoline inside the home and within a minute afterwards observed smoke and flames around the doorways. He stated that he attempted to put out the fire while an adult female resident of the home got everyone out safely and called 911.
The man disclosed to Officers that he had been having problems with his ex-girlfriend Kayla Zorn recently and believed she may be responsible for the fire. Officers were familiar with Ms. Zorn from an encounter with her earlier in March and had knowledge that she drove a white Chevy Z-71 pick-up. A short time later Chesterfield Officers located Ms. Zorn’s pickup parked and unoccupied on Lexington, one block west of the fire location. Further inspection revealed the keys were still in the ignition and there were (2) half empty gas cans in the bed of the truck.
A short time later Officers located Ms. Zorn standing in a yard between the homes down the street from her parked pickup. Officers confronted her and immediately detected the strong odor of gasoline on her clothing and observed her clothing to be wet and muddy. She could not explain what she was doing between the homes or why she smelled of gasoline and was placed under arrest. Her vehicle was impounded and towed to the Chesterfield Police Department.
Ms. Zorn later admitted to Detectives during questioning that she was upset with the male resident of the home and the manner in which he ended their relationship. Even with the knowledge that small children were residing in the home, she described how she poured gasoline around the doorways, lit the fire, and fled on foot to observe the situation from a distance.
After review this afternoon by the Macomb County Prosecutors Office Kayla Zorn was charged with: “Assault with Intent to Murder” (a life felony) and “Arson 2nd Degree” (a 20 year felony). She was arraigned in the 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore and subsequently lodged in the Macomb County Jail on a $ 500,000.00 cash bond.
