Nov. 5--Detroit Firefighter Walter Harris was killed -- his body trapped beneath a collapsed roof in a burning home he was trying to extinguish -- for a mere $20, authorities said today.
Forty-year-old Darian Dove, the man accused of accepting the money to set the blaze, has agreed to a plea deal, knocking a first-degree murder charge down to second-degree in exchange for testimony against the man who allegedly paid him, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said this afternoon.
Mario Willis, 27, is to be arraigned at 5:30 today on first-degree murder and arson charges that Fire Chief Harry Brown said will hopefully bring closure to Harris' family. If convicted of the murder charge, Willis would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The arson charge carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
Worthy declined to discuss Willis' motive, saying that it will be revealed in the preliminary exam, the date for which should be set by day's end. Her investigators did say, however, that Willis is accused of paying Dove $20 to set the building ablaze.
"Twenty dollars or $20 million, it doesn't make a difference," Brown said. "It wasn't worth his life."
He and Worthy applauded Detroit police investigators for their work. Police Chief Warren Evans said building a case to show arson-for-hire was difficult.
Harris, 38, died last November in the blaze in the 7000 block of Kirby. He left behind six children.
Brown implored arsonists to think about firefighters' families.
"If you don't want to do it to your family, please don't do it to my firefighters," he said.
Contact AMBER HUNT: 313-223-4526 or alhunt@freepress.com.
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