A suspect in the August 20 firebombing of a Clayton County teacher’s Riverdale home is in custody.
Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services and Riverdale Police say U.S. Marshals captured the suspect, Theriton Wells, Thursday in Humble, TX, a suburb of Houston, Texas and that he will be extradited to Georgia.
According to U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Frank Lempka, Wells was arrested at an auto body paint shop where he worked. CCFES Fire Chief and County Interim Chief of Staff Landry Merkison said the man threw two Molotov cocktails into Adreana Swanson’s home.
Swanson, 22, is recovering at Grady Memorial Hospital from burns to her face, neck, and arms. 11 Alive reports Swanson suffered third-degree burns. Another woman in the h0me also was injured. A neighbor’s house also caught fire.
Riverdale Police Detective Kamie McKay said a lead on social media led to Wells’ arrest.
CCFES Capt. Chris Cameron said during a Monday news conference that Swanson’s big brother and Wells had gone to school together as children, and that some conflict may have prompted Wells to attack Swanson.
“As they grew older, they were running in the same circles,” Cameron told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The vengeful nature between one or the other, as of right now, we cannot disclose.”
Merkison said, “It should have never happened, but it did and I’m s0 happy to bring justice to this family.”
More to come.
