LOS ANGELES (CN) — A recidivist arsonist was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison on Monday for setting fire to a Southern California church that houses a preschool while there were 48 children inside.
Jonathan Barajas Nava, 37, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was also ordered to pay $7,008 in restitution, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
On April 24, 2024, Nava set fire to the Retreat Church and Yucaipa Christian Preschool in Yucaipa, California, in the middle of the day. He pulled into the church’s driveway, poured gasoline on the front door and set it on fire before driving away in his pickup truck, witnesses told law enforcement…