Denton daycare owners assist police in arresting arsonist suspect

Denton daycare owners assist police in arresting arsonist suspect

The owners of a Denton daycare were shocked to learn police connected the suspect who set their daycare on fire to an arson spree.

DENTON, Texas - The owners of a Denton daycare were shocked to learn police connected the suspect who set their daycare on fire to an arson spree.

The suspect who was arrested for arson was responsible for more fires, including a house fire that killed an elderly couple.

Denton police announced 36-year-old John Howard Ore now faces two counts of arson causing bodily injury or death.

What they're saying:

The arrest brought Denton daycare owners, Charlie and Adrian Torry, back to that January evening, when they got the notification that the daycare’s fire alarm was going off. 

"It was really heartbreaking to see the damage he really had done to the community. I knew I was affected by him, but I didn't know the others were," said Charlie Torry. "For me, it was deeper than I even thought it was."

Surveillance videos from January show the Denton daycare going up in flames.

"He had a cigarette in his hand, smoking. He walked around and came back and didn't have it. So, we walked over there, and the cigarette was still on the ground," said Adrian Torry.

The backstory:

In December, Denton firefighters responded to a house fire off Houston Place, where a 103-year-old man and an 83-year-old woman later died from their injuries.

After a long investigation spanning several months, their deaths were ruled homicide.

The day before, a fast-food restaurant sustained serious damage from a fire investigators say was intentionally started.

A month later on January 21, police say Ore is the man on video from Tender Loving Care Learning Academy as he uses a rock to bust the window open, then he appears to pour gasoline on the floor as the fire ignites.

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Denton arson suspect charged in children's daycare fire, death of elderly couple

Denton man, 36-year-old John Howard Ore, is facing four arson charges, including two first-degree felonies, following a joint Denton Fire and Police investigation into the December deaths of an elderly couple and the January fire at a daycare.

Dig deeper:

Detectives say all three fires were started in the same way.

Not only did the outside cameras capture a clear shot of Ore's face, but the Torry's noticed he left behind a used cigarette.

Detectives took it into evidence, which led to a speedy arrest back in January.

What's next:

Now Ore faces two first-degree felonies.

His bond sits at $2.1 million.

Back in January, Torry's daycare  was only closed for a few days to fix the damage.

Denton police told them. The clear surveillance cameras and the DNA from the cigarette helped put the pieces together in this investigation and bring forth those additional charges.