Police are searching for a Pittsburgh man charged in connection to a March duplex fire in New Kensington that displaced two families.
Anthony Mohamed, 37, faces felony charges for six counts of attempted criminal homicide, three counts of arson, burglary, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief. He also faces nine misdemeanor charges for recklessly endangering another person.
The fire tore through the duplex at the corner of McCargo Street and Freeport Road, gutting the McCargo side, the morning of March 29.
Mohamed was identified as the stepbrother of Jeris Smith, one of the victims on the McCargo side of the duplex, according to police.
Around 7:38 a.m. that day, video footage from a neighbor’s camera shows a person, later identified as Mohamed, approaching the McCargo side of the house, according to a criminal complaint.
He’s then shown walking across the street with a gas can toward one of the victim’s cars, then back to the house.
He reappears, walking away from the residence, at 7:42 a.m. with two backpacks. Eight minutes later, he’s seen on the footage, walking to the house with no bags.
At 7:55 a.m. the smoke detector can be heard activating on the video and Mohamed is seen running away from the scene.
No one died in the fire.
On the McCargo side of the duplex, Smith, Jasmine Bell and their three young children escaped by jumping off the house’s front porch. Smith’s 18-year-old son, who was sleeping in the basement, escaped the house through a side door.
Bell broke her leg, foot and ankle jumping from the porch roof and the children were treated for smoke inhalation.
Bell’s mother, Nikki Bell, said Friday that Jasmine had surgery on her leg and was doing well in physical therapy. She said the children had no lingering complications from the smoke inhalation.
The family has been staying with Nikki Bell in Pittsburgh, but will be moving into their own place later this month.
“The family is doing better,” she said.
Bell had no comment about the familial connection between Mohamed and Smith.
A GoFundMe still is taking donations for the family.
The three-person family on the other side of the duplex also escaped and one woman was treated for smoke inhalation.
According to the criminal complaint, Mohamed and Smith got into an altercation a week before the fire.
Police said text messages between the two in the week leading up to the fire showed Mohamed wanted to continue the altercation.
The complaint said Mohamed took a Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus to New Kensington, arriving around 7:30 a.m., and left on another bus around 8:30 a.m.
Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshall Adam Derco ruled the fire, which started in the living room, was intentionally set, the complaint said.
Police have a warrant out for Mohamed’s arrest.