PRINCETON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Mercer County woman faces a first-degree arson charge after authorities say she admitted to deliberately setting a home on fire following a dispute with her boyfriend.
According to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to a reported arson at a residence on Kirby Addition Road near Princeton shortly before 3 a.m. on Sept. 10, 2026.
The Green Valley Fire Department had been dispatched to the property approximately an hour earlier for a structure fire. Firefighters told deputies that the home remained structurally sound and that the fire appeared to have originated in a pile of clothing on the floor of a back bedroom.
While deputies were traveling to the scene, Mercer County 911 reportedly received a call from the accused woman’s boyfriend. He told dispatchers that his girlfriend, identified as Chantell Lynn Marshall, had sent him text messages threatening to burn down their home.
Deputies found Marshall seated at a nearby picnic table. When asked what happened, Marshall allegedly said she had experienced problems with her boyfriend, had “had enough” and wanted to leave the property. Authorities say she admitted to setting the fire.
The boyfriend later provided investigators with the alleged text conversation, which reportedly included a message from Marshall stating, “I’m burning this house to the ground.”
Marshall was arrested and taken to the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. Following a Miranda warning, investigators say she provided a recorded statement admitting that she started the fire with gasoline and intended to destroy the entire residence.
Marshall was processed on a charge of first-degree arson and transported to Southern Regional Jail to await arraignment.
All defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
