Arson likely in Dayton house fire where 2 teens were shot to death in August

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

“Murder” was spray painted across the front of a house destroyed in a fire late Thursday night on the same property where two teenagers were fatally shot in August.

“It appears there had been an explosion,” said Dayton Fire Capt. Thomas Cope. “One of the walls appears to have been blown off the foundation.”

The fire is being investigated as arson.

On Aug. 28, the homeowner shot to death Devin Henderson and Javier Harrison, two 17-year-olds he found in the detached garage on the property in the 800 block of Conners Street. The man was “safe at some other residence” when the fire happened, Cope said.

RELATED: Slaying of teens in trespassing case raises legal questions

“Somebody just set that white house on fire,” a caller to 9-1-1 said. “I was just parking my car and it just exploded and a black car drove off.”

RELATED: State will have to prove shooter did not act in self-defense

The resident has not been charged in the shooting. There has been no update on the double-homicide from Dayton police or the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

Capt. Cope said the investigation of the fire continues.

“Total loss,” he said of what remains of the house.

Henderson and Harrison, both 17, were shot in the back in the garage on Aug. 28, according to autopsies performed by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. Dayton police have made no arrest in the double shooting.

RELATED: NAACP wants thorough investigation of Conners Street shooting

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