A Clinton County Grand Jury, convening on Thursday, May 5, indicted at Tennessee man on three counts of Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder and one count of Arson first degree in relation to a fire that destroyed a local resident’s home in March. Three people occupied the residence at the time of the incident.

The grand jury alleges that Ricky Lee York, 28, “committed Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder, when he intentionally set fire to the dwelling occupied by Donnie Lee, Kelly Lee and a minor child, when the people were asleep in the home…and having the intent to the death…” of the occupants.

York was also indicted on a Class A felony charge of First Degree Arson “when he entered a dwelling occupied by three persons with the intent to destroy the dwelling, piling combustibles on a couch and igniting the ends of the couch causing the building/house to catch fire.”

The defendant was also charged with four counts of Persistent Felony Offender second degree, by having committed the aforementioned offenses after having been stood convicted of a felony within the past five years.

York, of Celina, Tennessee, was arrested on the charges on March 17, six days after the fire occurred. He was already incarcerated in the Clinton County Jail on a separate warrant out of Tennessee when the local charges were levied.

The residence was located at 77 Old Kentucky Road in Clinton County. The house was a total loss but no injuries were sustained.

Albany Fire Department Chief Robert Roeper told the Clinton County News following the incident that the structure was already fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, making entry into the house impossible.

In addition to the main structure, an outbuilding was also destroyed by the fire, but another nearby house was prevented by the department from becoming involved. “There was nothing left to save,” Roeper said. “The buildings were really close together.”

Roeper said the house was involved with construction at the time of the fire and it originated in a location of the house where no electric had been hooked up.

“Witnesses said when they saw the fire it was on a couch in a room where there was no electricity and there was some stuff on the couch burning. We then contacted Alex Wesley of the Kentucky State Police Arson Unit.”

According to local jail officials, York had been booked into the local detention center on March 15 on a Failure to Appear warrant out of Tennessee. They also said at the time, although York was in local custody, he was actually being housed in the Russell County Jail.

His original bond was set at $100,000 cash and he was arraigned in late March in Clinton District Court.

Detective Wesley is leading the investigation.

(An indictment is a statement of probable cause to believe an offense has been committed and further court proceedings are warranted. Individuals named in an indictment are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.)