KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A woman convicted of setting a fatal house fire in Kalamazoo last year will spend life in prison without parole.
Melissa Morgan was previously convicted on February 13th for the death of Zachariah Hayes at his home in February 2019. A jury found her guilty of first-degree arson and first-degree murder during a three week trial preceding the decision.
On Monday in Kalamazoo County Court, Morgan was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the convicted count of murder. Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting says she will also spend between 40 to 75 years behind bars for arson, served concurrently with the murder sentence.
Morgan was accused of during her trial of deliberately lighting a fire that killed 31-year-old Zachariah Hayes and destroyed his home. His remains were found in the burned out structure of his Wallace Street home in Kalamazoo on February 3rd, 2019.
Morgan was seen leaving the building just prior to when it became engulfed in flames, and witnesses testified that she was inside with Hayes earlier the night before.
She was arrested for unrelated drug charges and was questioned for the suspicious fire by police, but was ultimately later released. The Kalamazoo native became a suspect following a criminal investigation and was charged with setting the house fire on June 21st.
During her trial Morgan’s attorney Eusebio Solis argued that she was not at the home when the fire was set and was raped by Hayes multiple times while she was with him that night.
Despite the two being known to be friends before the incident, text messages obtained by investigators show Morgan texting her boyfriend telling him that she had been raped and threatening to kill Hayes.
At a preliminary examination in July 2019, Hayes neighbor Trevor Kuhnle said he was at the victim’s house the night before where he found Morgan and friend Justin Flegel on the couch, while Hayes was passed out in a separate room.
Kuhnle says that Morgan said she was raped but was hesitant to call police because of multiple outstanding felony warrants issued for her.
The defense pointed to another witness as the one who set the fire in retaliation for the alleged rapes. Morgan’s childhood friend Justin Flegel was also at the Wallace Street home at various points in the hours leading up to the fire, and her attorney argued that he was the one that actually caused it.
Flegel testified that he was there that night to comfort Morgan. He left but after not wanting to leave her alone eventually came back to the home where Flegel found her setting parts of the building on fire. The witness recalled in court testimony that she remarked Hayes was already dead.
A medical examiner at Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine testified in court that Hayes’ died from burns and smoke inhalation.
Throughout the trial Kalamazoo County prosecutors claimed that Morgan killed Hayes after getting into a heated argument because he would not provide her drugs. They also pointed to texts obtained from the defendant specifically calling for Hayes’ death.
Messages from Morgan to others in the days before the fire show her asking for food, drugs, and cigarettes.
The jury ultimately decided the Morgan was guilty of both charges after the seventh day of deliberations.
Morgan’s boyfriend David Wise also pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of a felony on Friday, February 21st in relation to her charges.
