Two Suspects Held in Skagit County Jail for Arson and Murder

Skagit County, WA – Skagit County Detectives have arrested a man and woman for suspicion of Arson in the 1st degree and two counts each of Murder in the first degree after two young children died in a house fire in the 13000 block of Bayview Road around 2:35 a.m. on July 15th, 2017.

 31-year old Kimberly Hughes and 24-year old Jaramy Chism are being held in the Skagit County Jail on an INVESTIGATIVE HOLD in Lieu of $2-Million dollar bail.

 

Two Children died in the fire. 8-year old Rose and 6-year old Xavier.

According to probable cause court documents,  a roommate who was living in the home heard the fire, woke up and alerted the children’s father.  The roommate and the father  attempted to put out the fire while the children’s  mother, Jessica Starr,  ran upstairs to get the children out of the house.   As the mother tried to push open a   screen to rescue the children, she fell through the screen and out the second story window.

Fire Districts from around Skagit County responded to the scene and attempted to put out the fully involved fire.  Medics transported the mother to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with burns and cuts, where she remains in satisfactory condition. The father and roommate suffered injuries and were transported to local hospitals. Fire crews were unable to enter the building and the children were not able to escape the fire.

During the course of the investigation, the children’s father told investigators he believed the fire might have been started by a couple who recently moved out of the house and had been threatening the family.  According to court documents, he said one of the suspects showed up at the house about a week before the fire and said “I will sue you or burn your house down.”

Fire Investigators and Investigators from the A.T.F. were called to the scene because of the suspicious nature of the fire. Investigators  believed an accelerant, such as gasoline was used to start the fire.

Around 6:30 a.m. Deputies made contact with the couple the father told them had threatened the family.  The couple  agreed to be interviewed and investigators noticed a gas can in the back seat of their car.   The couple told Detectives they were asleep in their car from midnight until detectives woke them up at 6:30 a.m.

Kimberly Hughes posted on Facebook at 2:17 a.m. on July 7th “If someone were to continuously go out of their way to f*** with you when you’ve done nothing but be helpful and respectful to them. How would you go about getting revenge once you were able to separate yourself from liability?”

Kimberly Hughes posted on Facebook at 2:39 a.m. on July 7th “I’ve done that most of my life, for once after every one whose done me wrong who I’ve never gotten the chance to deliver retribution to, this time I think I deserve vengeance”

Kimberly Hughes posted on Facebook at 3:45 p.m. on July 7th, that they were given a 30-day eviction notice.

 

Kimberly Hughes then posted at 5:44 p.m. on July 5th, “sounds good, but if I told l&i or the BBB about their refusing to pay for work that we’ve worked, they will be heavily fined, lose their business license or even get to participate in a class action law suit, and althought you’re all right when you sy that it is better to avoid vengeance, sometimes when you’ve been truly wronged, the only right course of action is retaliation.” 

Read the Full publically visible conversation posted on Facebook by clicking here.

Ultimately both suspects were arrested on an investigative hold for Suspicion of Arson 1st degree and two counts each of Murder 1st degree for the death of the children. Investigators have 72 hours to formally charge them with a crime.

The investigation is ongoing and the story will be updated as more information becomes available.