Portage, IN – An 87-year-old woman died in an apartment fire Tuesday after her daughter’s boyfriend allegedly threatened to burn down the unit. Emergency crews responded to the 3300 block of Swanson Court Apartments around 12:10 a.m. Police and firefighters found smoke and flames coming from a ground-floor apartment and evacuated residents from the building.
Firefighters rescued one person from a second-floor balcony before extinguishing the fire. Authorities later found Maria Leal, 87, in the apartment where the fire started. She was taken to a nearby hospital but succumbed to her injuries. An autopsy is set for Wednesday to determine her cause of death.
According to police, the victim’s daughter informed officers that her boyfriend had made threats to burn down the apartment earlier that night. A K-9 unit detected ignitable liquids at the scene. Officers arrested the suspect, found near the scene at 1:30 a.m., and transported him to the Portage Police Department for questioning.
He remains in custody on unrelated charges as the investigation continues.
