Teen Confesses To Arson in Louisiana Apartment Complex

A teenager already in custody has been booked with arson in connection with a January fire at the Village Square apartments in Chalmette, La.

The sheriff’s office says the teenager, who is now 17 but was 16 at the time of the incident, admitted deliberating setting the apartments on fire.

Because he’s in custody at the St. Bernard Parish Juvenile Detention Center, the sheriff’s office did not release the teenager’s name. The teenager is currently serving a two-year sentence following a conviction for several auto burglaries.

No one was injured in the Jan. 6 fire, which destroyed about 40 homes in the large apartment complex. Most of the homes in Village Square have remained abandoned since Hurricane Katrina.