Clermont County woman indicted on multiple felonies for alleged role in residential arson
Athena Walsh, 42, of Clermont County was indicted recently for her alleged role in a residential fire believed to have been intentionally set on April 14.
The residence was in the 1900 block of Pearl Street in Monroe Township, Clermont County.
A Clermont County grand jury returned an indictment on Walsh for the following charges:
• Two counts of aggravated arson, both felonies of the first degree;
• One count of aggravated arson, a felony of the second degree;
• One count of tampering with evidence, a felony of the third degree; and
• Three counts of arson, all felonies of the fourth degree.
On April 14 at 6:07 a.m., the Clermont County Communications Center received several 911 calls from witnesses reporting a house on fire, and one noted that a shed had exploded. The sole occupant of the residence also called 911 and reported, “There is somebody outside trying to break in, and they are setting fire to my stuff.” The resident declined the 911 operator's plea to evacuate the home, prompting one of the neighbors who spotted the fire to intervene and assist in her removal.
The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office and Monroe Township Fire and EMS were dispatched to the scene, arriving at 6:22 a.m. Units determined the occupants was unharmed and out of the home upon arrival.
Units on the scene described the rear of the structure, including a shed on the property close to the residence, as fully engulfed. Once the fire was extinguished, the Clermont County Fire Investigation Team was contacted to determine the cause and origin. The CCFIT determined the incident suspicious and incendiary, ruling the incident as arson.
Detectives from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office were contacted and arrived on the scene a short time later and began the investigation. They interviewed witnesses at the scene, along with the home’s resident, and identified a person of interest as Athena Walsh.
On April 14 at 3;30 p.m., detectives from the Sheriff’s Office, along with the Cincinnati Police Department, located and arrested Walsh without incident in the City of Cincinnati. Walsh was also arrested on an unrelated Common Pleas bench warrant and transported to the Clermont County Jail without incident.
Walsh refused to provide a statement or any information regarding the alleged arson. She was charged with one count of tampering with evidence, a felony of the third degree, for allegedly altering her vehicle in an attempt to conceal it from authorities after learning of the arson investigation.
The Clermont County Fire Investigation Team determined the residence to be a complete loss.
An indictment is merely a charge and is not evidence of guilt.
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