Police in Milwaukee say a tense eviction fight between a father and his adult daughter exploded into a nightmare when she allegedly grabbed charcoal lighter fluid and a Bic lighter and set his apartment on fire with him still inside. What started as a family dispute inside a senior housing building ended with smoke-filled hallways, neighbors scrambling to escape, and multiple people in the hospital.
Investigators now accuse the daughter of turning a personal grievance into a potentially deadly act that could easily have killed not just her father but everyone living on that floor. The case lays bare how quickly a private argument can spill over into public danger when rage, desperation, and an open flame collide.
The Eviction Fight That Lit the Fuse
According to police, the trouble had been building for weeks before anyone smelled smoke. Officers say 48-year-old Laquita Spears had been staying with her father in his Milwaukee senior apartment after leaving a shelter, a short-term arrangement that apparently stretched longer than he wanted. When he finally told her she had to move out, what might have been a painful but ordinary family decision allegedly turned into a full-blown confrontation.
Witness accounts and charging documents describe a bitter argument inside the unit as the father tried to enforce the eviction. One report says the older man called police for help when his daughter would not stop yelling and swearing at him, a detail echoed in coverage of a Wisconsin Woman Accused to an Apartment With Father Inside After Eviction Notice. What separates this case from the usual family blowup is what investigators say happened next, after the shouting did not get her what she wanted.
Inside the Senior Apartment Before the Flames
The father’s unit sat inside a building reserved for older residents, a place where neighbors tend to know each other’s routines and health issues. Prosecutors say that on the day of the fire, the argument between father and daughter escalated inside that small apartment as he tried to get her to leave and she refused. At some point, according to a detailed criminal complaint, the older man picked up the phone and called police, hoping officers could defuse the situation before it got worse…