HOT SPRINGS -- A Mississippi woman was arrested early Thursday after she burned down a cabin she was leasing off Park Avenue and was found unclothed in a nearby hot tub, authorities said.
Kristi Melissa Coker, 44, who lists a Glen, Miss., address, was taken into custody at 6334 Park Ave. shortly after 7:30 a.m. Thursday and charged with a felony count of arson, punishable by up to life in prison, and a misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing, punishable by up to 30 days in jail.
According to a probable cause affidavit, shortly before 6:30 a.m., Garland County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the residence at 6334 Park Ave., Lot A, regarding a residential structure fire.
Deputies located a woman, identified as Coker, sitting in a hot tub, unclothed, outside a cabin at Lot B. She made a spontaneous statement to patrol deputies at the scene that she had set the residence on Lot A on fire, authorities said.
Sheriff's investigators contacted the owners of the property, who stated Coker had been leasing Lot A. The owners noted they had security camera footage of Coker attempting to set Lot B of the property on fire, but she was not successful.
Coker was taken into custody by Deputy Alex Holloway. While he was transporting her to the Garland County jail, authorities said she again made a "spontaneous utterance" that she had set fire to the residence on Lot A, which is listed on county property tax records as a cabin.
Fountain Lake Fire Department Chief Steven Burroughs said Friday that the residence at 6334 Park, Lot A, was "a single-family dwelling being rented at the time" and that it was "a complete loss."
"Upon our arrival the single female occupant was outside the residence and no one else was inside," Burroughs said. "A defensive fire operation was determined due to the structure being unsafe for interior fire attack. We were on scene for approximately four hours."
He said the cause of the fire is "under investigation at this time."