DC man charged with murder after homeless man set on fire during arson spree

A D.C. man has been arrested in the death of a homeless man who was set on fire during a string of arsons in Northeast D.C. last week. 

D’Aundrey Scott, 25, of Southeast D.C., has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 62-year-old Darryl Finney.

Scott, who is also suspected of trying to set another man on fire during an hourlong arson spree near D.C.’s H Street corridor, is also charged with assault with intent to kill and arson.

D.C. police said Finney and his possessions were set on fire just after 1 a.m. on May 13. Lt. Seth Anderson said responding officers found Finney in the 900 block of H Street Northeast with serious burns to his legs, and he had to be hospitalized. He died two days later

Less than an hour before Finney was set on fire, another man had flagged down police to say he was nearly set on fire. He told police a man approached him, lit a cloth on fire and threw it at him, but he was not was not injured. Scott has been charged with assault with intent to kill in that attack. 

Police also suspect Scott of setting a vehicle parked in the area on fire, as well as setting two fires in the 1400 block of Morse Street Northeast: a flower pot on the front of a home and another structure fire. He is charged with malicious destruction of property in connection with the vehicle fire and two count of arson in the other fires.

The location of the fires can be seen in the map below:

 

Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

Jack Moore

Jack Moore joined WTOP.com as a digital writer/editor in July 2016. Previous to his current role, he covered federal government management and technology as the news editor at Nextgov.com, part of Government Executive Media Group.

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