A Key Largo man has been arrested and accused of setting a building on fire in an apparent suicide attempt.
The man, John Merendino, 48, was arrested by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and now faces two counts of attempted murder.
The incident occurred on July 16 at an apartment building near mile marker 95.1.
“Merendino lit his apartment on fire in an alleged attempt to commit suicide,” agency information officer Becky Harrin told the media. “There were people at home in the two other apartments in the building who were forced to evacuate their homes because of the fire.”
The fire claimed the lives of Merendino’s two pet cats.
Charges faced include arson, two counts of attempted murder in the second degree, and two counts of animal cruelty.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.