Frankfort police say that a man indicted for setting a woman’s home on fire, did so because she spurned him on social media. Now, that woman is trying to rebuild her life from the ashes.
Joanie Yount’s Hillview Drive home was set on fire in November. James Graham, 37, was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday and is now facing charges of arson. Police say the entire incident started after Graham added Joanie Yount on Facebook and began sending her messages.
Yount says that she and Graham were only acquaintances but that he began wanting something more.
“He was writing on all my pictures talking about how beautiful I am and let him take me out. I had actually told him to stay off of my Facebook, so he may have gotten offended over that ,” says Yount.
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Police say Graham was offended enough by Yount’s rejection, that he started a fire in her home.
Thankfully, Joanie and her 3-year-old son weren’t home when neighbors noticed smoke coming from her house.
“You can actually see from my window standing up on the couch, you could actually see inside there and you couldn’t see no flames, all you could see was smoke,” says Samantha Begal, Joanie’s neighbor and sister.
Police were able to figure out, through collected evidence, that Graham was their suspect.
According to Joanie, Graham wasn’t shy about admitting his wrongdoing.
“He was walking around bragging about it and saying he wouldn’t have to pay the price,” says Yount.
Police now say he will pay for his actions, but the price Yount is facing is far worse.
“She’s got to start from the bottom. She has nothing,” says Samantha Begal.
Joanie and her son are staying with family. She did not have insurance and is starting over from scratch.
Joanie does have a gofundme page established to help get her family back on their feet.
