Deshaun Howard admitted to starting the fire that burned a Somers Point home in 2022.
A Somers Point man who admitted to setting fire to the home of a family he had known for years was sentenced to three years in prison this week.
Deshaun Howard, now 24, pleaded guilty Jan. 30, to second-degree aggravated arson for dousing the foundation of the West Dawes Avenue home with gasoline before igniting the blaze in the pre-dawn hours of March 23, 2022.
Faith Tompkins is charged with helping him. She case remains pending.
The family of three was asleep inside at the time of the blaze, but were able to escape without injury. They were shocked that someone would try to hurt them, especially Howard, who had been friends with the homeowners' daughter.
The two had worked together at Wawa.
"He spent time in our home," the mother told BreakingAC just weeks after the fire. "He called me mom. He's eaten dinner here. He would wait with (my daughter) at work if I was running a couple of minutes late. It's just baffling to us."
The couple asked that only their first names, Samantha and Rick, be used in the story.
"When you do nothing wrong to anybody and they try to kill you in your sleep, it's very shocking and frightening," Rick said.
The couple slept with their window open, and the smell of smoke woke Rick of a dead sleep.
"You could see the flames up to our bedroom window about to get in," she recalled.
They called for their daughter and got their pets out.
Howard was freed following a detention hearing days after his arrest.
But he has been jailed since March 2023, after he violated a no-contact order in place to keep him from the Rick and Samantha's daughter.
Howard was sentenced to three years in prison. He must serve at least two years and seven months under the No Early Release Act.
He has more than two years' credit for time served in the Atlantic County Justice Facility. He could be free by the fall.
Howard then will be on parole for three years.
The victim spoke at the sentencing and told the court of the emotional and mental impact to the family, the fear they felt when they woke up to their house on fire with their children and pets inside, and how they never thought anyone would try to kill them.'
Howard's attorney, Durann Neil, said that his client was struggling with mental health issues at the time.
"During this period, Mr. Howard experienced paranoid delusions, which were acknowledged by the officers involved," Neil said. "We provided medical documentation to support our claims.
"Mr. Howard, who is now receiving appropriate medication for his diagnosed schizophrenia, chose to plead guilty to avoid putting his family through a trial," he added. "He expresses deep remorse for his actions and is committed to his treatment."
The Somers Point Police Department conducted this investigation with assistance from the Scullville Fire Company.
Howard remains jailed pending his transfer to state prison.
