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Baltimore Man Charged With Arson and Depraved-Heart Murder in 2022 Stricker Street Fire

Prosecutors say enhanced analysis of surveillance footage provided the key evidence that advanced the long-running case.

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Baltimore City firefighters work to free firefighters trapped after a partial collapse during a fire in a vacant row house fire on S. Stricker Street Monday morning.
"A Moment of Sacrifice and Honor, Jan. 24, 2022 – In Loving Memory of Lieutenant Paul Butrim, Lieutenant Kelsey Sadler, Firefighter/Paramedic Kenny Lacayo – An expression of love from the Mount Clare community" is posted in white letters on a red sign at the site of the vacant rowhouse fire at 205 S. Stricker Street, where three Baltimore City Fire Department firefighters died in January 2022. Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun Staff)
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Overview

  • James Barnett, 57, was arrested Friday and ordered held without bail on counts including second-degree arson, three second-degree murder charges, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
  • Charging documents say surveillance video shows him entering the rear of 205 S. Stricker Street shortly before midnight on Jan. 23, 2022 and leaving eight minutes later after creating several flashes of light.
  • Investigators used MATLAB Image Processing Toolbox to identify flashes consistent with a butane lighter at the fire’s point of origin, according to Det. Jonathan Jones.
  • The blaze killed Lts. Kelsey Sadler and Paul Butrim and Firefighter/EMT Kenny Lacayo when the vacant rowhouse collapsed, and Firefighter John McMaster survived with severe injuries.
  • A bail review is set for Monday, and a separate lawsuit from families alleges the city abandoned a Code X building-status system that would have flagged the structure’s dangers.