FireLink

News >> Browse Articles >> Fallen Firefighter

$20 Paid To Arsonist for Setting Fire that Killed Detroit Firefighter

DETROIT – Nearly a year after Detroit firefighter Walter Harris died inside a burning home, authorities announced charges against a man they say paid an arsonist to set the deadly fire.

The fee? $20.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Thursday that first-degree murder and arson charges have been filed against Mario Willis, a 27-year-old businessman. Investigators say he paid a handyman the $20 to set fire to the vacant home on the city’s east side.

Harris, 38, died when the roof of the two-story home collapsed atop him, trapping him inside the inferno last November.

The handyman, 40-year-old Darian Dove, agreed to a plea deal Tuesday, knocking a first-degree murder charge down to second-degree in exchange for his testimony against Willis, Worthy said.

Willis “set in motion a deadly event that directly caused the death of a fallen hero,” Worthy said.

If convicted of the murder charge, Willis would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The arson charge carries a maximum 20-year sentence.

The allegation that Harris’ death was part of an arson-for-hire scheme sickened those who knew him.

“It’s insulting to think that someone put a value on one of our lives of $20,” said Detroit Firefighters Association President Dan McNamara.

“Twenty dollars or $20 million, it doesn’t make any difference,” said Fire Chief Harry Brown. “It wasn’t worth his life.”

Harris was a burly, well-liked man who had been with the department for 17 years. He left behind a wife and six children. His son James Hill Harris also is a Detroit firefighter.

Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans said the case took on extra meaning for detectives because “police officers and firefighters are the ones who go toward dangerous situations when everyone else runs away.”

Worthy wouldn’t discuss a motive for Willis, saying she would prosecute the case in the courtroom.

Sources familiar with the investigation told the Free Press that Willis was buying and renovating houses to sell them. The house where Harris died was reportedly owned by Willis’ girlfriend.

Detroit Firefighters Association President Dan McNamara said firefighters know their lives are on the line in a city that has nearly 90,000 vacant dwellings that attract squatters and arsonists.

Still, he said, it’s sobering to think Harris died so needlessly.

“Twenty bucks?” he said. “We can’t take anything for granted.”

---