BREAKING: LC man convicted of killing two in intentional house fire

Published 4:52 pm Wednesday, May 31, 2023

A Lake Charles man who set fire to a mobile home with people trapped inside has been convicted on two counts of second-degree murder.

Casey M. Hatch, 40, was convicted Wednesday in 14th Judicial District Court. He now faces a mandatory life sentence on each conviction.

Hatch was arrested in January of 2020 after setting fire to his home with three people inside. The fire killed a mother and her 12-year-old daughter and gravely injured an 11-year-old boy.

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Ashley Rodrigue, spokesperson for the State Fire Marshal’s Office, said Lake Charles firefighters responded to the fire at a mobile home in the 300 block of Dobbertine Drive. She previously told the American Press that Hatch confessed to setting the fire in an attempt to commit suicide.

She said four occupants in the home at the time of the fire were transported to a local hospital, including Hatch, as well as a 39-year-old mother and her two children.

The girl died hours after arriving at the hospital while her mother died two days later.

Sentencing for Hatch has been set for July 21 before Judge Robert Wyatt.