JAG Arson Suspect Pleads Guilty in Court
Published: July 17, 2009
Updated: July 17, 2009
A former Fort Benning employee pleads guilty this week to setting the JAG office on fire.
31-year-old Shawana Topekia Pierce plead guilty in federal court Wednesday and will face anywhere from 5 to 20 years behind bars for destroying the second oldest building on post.
Pierce admitted to breaking into the office, pouring gasoline throughout the building and then setting it on fire February 6, 2009.
After setting the fire, Pierce changed her MySpace profile name to “firestarter.“
The building housed the original courtroom where Second Lieutenant William Calley was court-martialed for his role in the atrocity at My-Lai, Vietnam.
The total cost of the building, including the interior, was valued at $9.7 million.
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