Man arrested, charged with arson, murder in deadly Kentucky apartment fire

Published 6:12 am Friday, October 22, 2021

A man has been arrested on arson and murder charges in connection with a deadly Kentucky apartment fire that killed two people and injured several others.

WKYT reports that Ibrahim Muhammad, 23, was booked into the Franklin County Regional Jail Thursday evening on a $1 million full cash bond.

Muhammad is charged with one count of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree arson, one count of first-degree wanton endangerment, and two counts of murder after investigators determined that the fire was caused by an intentional criminal act.

The case was presented to a grand jury in Frankfort on Oct. 19.

The apartment fire on Leawood Drive that killed two people and injured several people.

Frankfort Fire Chief Wayne Briscoe said in an earlier report with the Frankfort State-Journal that when the fire crew arrived that morning, after a passerby reported an alarm going off at the 804 Leawood Drive building, there was heavy fire throughout the building.

Agents with the Louisville field division of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) assisted with the investigation.

Earlier in October, Louisville ATF’s Twitter account posted that there were no signs of criminal intent. Further investigation turned up evidence to the contrary.

Briscoe said earlier in October that he could not yet share any more details on the fire, such as where in the building it started or what the cause of the fire might be, due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

“It’s probably going to still be some time before we hone it down and release an official area and cause,” Briscoe said. “We want to make sure that we’re putting in the due diligence and to make sure that we’re accurate.”

The building, along with 803 and 805 Leawood Drive, was purchased in March 2020. Peach Properties — Canterberry sold it to PR Fieldstone LLC for $1.113 million, Franklin County Property Valuation Administrator records indicate. PR Fieldstone LLC also owns several other buildings in the Thistleton area.

The two people who died in the fire, Zephany Rushin and Quiana Danyel Miller-Walker, were pronounced dead at 10:35 a.m. and 12:31 p.m., respectively. Rushin was pronounced dead at the scene.