A woman has been convicted of murder and of intentionally starting multiple fires that caused extensive damage to properties in Tacoma and Ruston during the latter part of 2021 and early 2022.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department informed KOMO News on Wednesday about Sarah Ramey’s verdict from a jury. The verdict includes charges of murder, 13 counts of arson, two attempted arson, burglary, identity theft, and motor vehicle theft.
Officials have reported that Ramey was responsible for a series of 18 fires in 2022, resulting in the destruction of multiple homes, a garage, and a car.
An 83-year-old man tragically lost his life in a fire that occurred on New Year’s Eve in 2021. When Ramey was arrested, investigators were already aware of a tragic incident that occurred on New Year’s Eve, where a man lost his life in a house fire. Initially, the fire had been determined to be accidental. Court documents reveal that the man’s cause of death was determined to be accidental.
However, after Ramey’s arrest, authorities obtained a search warrant for her truck and the items she had in her possession at the time of her arrest.
Officials made a significant finding during their investigation – a checkbook belonging to the individual who tragically lost their life in the fire was found inside Ramey’s truck. Court documents revealed that three cards were discovered among Ramey’s possessions, which belonged to the deceased man’s wife.
Investigators have also discovered multiple sets of keys, a bag containing stolen mail from the Ruston area, and two metal containers filled with gasoline in her truck.
Tacoma police, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), utilized a police dog to conclude that the fire on New Year’s Eve was deliberately started. This discovery ultimately allowed them to establish that the man’s death was a result of homicide.
Ramey was taken into custody a mere 48 hours following a series of six fires that were deemed highly questionable, all of which occurred within a span of only four hours. Court documents reveal that Ramey was discovered with a torch-type lighter in her possession at the time of her arrest, as per reports.
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According to court documents, Ramey informed detectives that she was present in the vicinity of 6th Avenue and Trafton Street during the occurrence of four other arson incidents.
As part of the investigation, detectives observed that Ramey’s phone was in close proximity to the site of the tragic fire for several hours before eventually departing to return home. According to prosecutors, Ramey made a phone call to her mother prior to the execution of a search warrant at her residence.
According to court documents, she advised her mother to remove her clothing and keys prior to the arrival of detectives serving the search warrant. Mitchell felt relieved by the guilty verdict as reported by KOMO News.