Three facing Welcome Inn arson charges make first appearance; evidence shows one started fire, two others were accessories

QUINCY — Two of three adults charged with arson in connection to a Tuesday fire that destroyed the main lobby building at the Welcome Inn, 200 Maine, were denied pretrial release when they made their first appearance in Adams County Circuit Court on Friday afternoon.

K’Lyn Muldrow, 19, of Liberty, Chase Jones, 19, of Quincy and Noah Carhoff, 23, of Quincy all appeared before Associate Judge Josh Jones Friday afternoon. Each of them was assigned counsel from the Adams County Public Defender’s Office. Each was charged with arson, a Class 2 felony punishable for between three and seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

A 17-year-old male juvenile from Liberty also was arrested for arson. He is detained at the Adams Juvenile Detention Center. 

Muldrow, represented by Mark Taylor, was the first to appear.  

Assistant State’s Attorney Brett Jansen said evidence showed Muldrow, charged as an accessory to the crime, was present and involved in the entry to the building. He also said she was involved with the transportation of people to and from the abandoned hotel. 

“She may not have been the individual who set the fires, but she assisted him,” Jansen said.

Taylor said he also agreed that Muldrow was at the scene of the fire. However, he pointed out that Muldrow’s Virginia Pretrial Risk Assessment Instrument (VPRAI) score, which is used to identify a defendant’s risk of failure to appear for a court appearance or get arrested for a new offense, was zero. She also had no criminal history.

“She just happened to be there on that day,” Taylor said. “This is a young lady who’s in school, going to John Wood (Community College) right now. Her mom’s here, her sister’s here, supporting her, and she’s scared to death. The best thing we can do is send her right home to her mom, so she is saying that she’s in trouble and she’s locked down. This young lady has never been in trouble in her entire life, and she has got herself caught up with some bad people in a bad situation.”

Jones said he could “count on one hand” the number of times in his 22-year legal career whose VPRAI score was a zero.

“I find that her behavior is less egregious than the other defendants who have made statements regarding their role (in the fire),” he said.

Jones granted pretrial release to Muldrow, giving her home detention except to attend classes at John Wood and ordering her to have a GPS ankle monitor. He also ordered a mental health assessment and a drug/alcohol evaluation.

Chase Jones was next to appear, and while John Citro was assigned to his case, Taylor represented him before Josh Jones. 

“We have a situation here where (Chase Jones) enters into an abandoned building and sets fires inside, causing the entire structure to go up,” Jansen said. “He takes a number of steps to make sure that no one will be available to put the fire out, and then he was in the vehicle that came back and watched it burn later.”

Jansen asked for Chase Jones to be detained because he had committed “a major offense,” as well as his psychological history and the statements he made during police investigations.

In making a case for Chase Jones to get electronic monitoring, Taylor didn’t deny that he was present that night. He noted that Chase Jones is 19 years old, his only criminal record was Class A misdemeanor for unlawful possession of cannabis from Nov. 27, and his VPRAI score was two (on a scale from zero to 14).

“If we hold this person in the Adams County Jail, he will be in there with seasoned criminals,” Taylor said. “If that’s what is in the best interest of this defendant, his family or the community at large? I would have to say no. … He has his family here, and they are desperately hoping that he comes home.

“At worst, this kid’s a moron if he did it. His parents are going to keep him in the house, make sure he doesn’t come out and get this thing behind him. This kid still has a future. … If he is guilty, he is guilty of being uniquely unintelligent and uniquely irresponsible. … I don’t think the solution for an irresponsible kid is to put him in jail with other irresponsible adults.”

Josh Jones said Chase Jones made statements admitting he set the fire, “and his behavior was the impetus behind the fire, as opposed to other individuals whose behavior was more minimal.” Josh Jones noted that in past instances when Chase Jones set fires, he brought a fire extinguisher to put them out. He also noted Chase Jones had brought another person to put out the fires, and he asked for that person to be kept away in this instance.

“There are certainly statements attributed to the defendant about a desire to set fires, and with that being an untreated desire, that is certainly concerning to the court, that if he is released back into the public, he will continue on that behavior,” Josh Jones said in denying the pretrial release.

Josh Jones also said Chase Jones was on pretrial release for his November cannabis charge and was specifically told not to violate the law.

Carhoff was the last to appear, and his case was handled by Chief Public Defender Jonathan Hoover.  He also was charged as an accessory to the crime.

“He went to this location to destroy property inside,” Jansen said. “He went there with a criminal intent.”

Hoover noted Carhoff was on pretrial release for a Class A misdemeanor for driving on a revoked license charge from November. He also said his VPRAI score was low, though he didn’t offer an exact figure.

“At least one individual had intent (that night). Did the others? I think it’s clear that Noah did not,” Hoover said. “We’re not pretending that no one went there with good intent and wasn’t involved in what I would call poor choices. But to lump him in with arson when there’s no conditions that he could be placed on because he had a traffic matter, I think we would disagree specifically. I think home detention would be an option.”

Josh Jones disagreed.

“According to statements made by other people, Mr. Jones informed Mr. Karoff with his intent and what he was going to do,” he said. “According to another individual, Mr. Karhoff was there as a quote, unquote ‘lookout.’ That was the word that was used by that witness.

“The police reports do not bear out the fact that he set the fires himself, but they also bear out the fact that he had knowledge of what was going on and what was likely to occur and did nothing to stop it. The court is to look at the type of his current offense, plus he’s on pretrial release. I understand that it was for a misdemeanor, but in this case, that particular offense was, in fact, driving on a revoked license. This defendant has been told that there are particular rules that he has to follow. He chose to break those rules when he wanted to.”

All three are scheduled to return to court on April 2 for preliminary hearings.

Cole Willer, 19, of Quincy was interviewed as part of the investigation and cited for criminal trespass to a building and released. A sixth person was questioned and released. 

Only the main lobby building on the northern edge of the property was damaged by the fire. A three-story building on the southern edge with all of the rooms was not damaged.