Woman gets probation for massive Atlanta apartment blaze sparked by fireworks
A woman accused of starting a massive Atlanta apartment blaze when she and a man set off fireworks from the roof will spend 10 years on probation, according to her attorney.
Charnelle Gunn, 27, was one of two people arrested at the scene of the November 2023 fire at the Reserve at LaVista Walk apartments. More than 100 residents had to evacuate when the blaze ignited on the roof and engulfed a four-story building, requiring the help of more than 80 firefighters.
Last week, Gunn entered an Alford plea to a second-degree arson charge, according to her attorney, Richard Blevins. An Alford plea is a guilty plea, though it means Gunn believes she is innocent of the charge, according to Georgia law. She pleaded guilty to 17 charges of criminal damage in the second degree.
Gunn was sentenced as a first offender, Blevins said.
The case remains open for the second defendant in the case, Robert Stokes.
Court records show Gunn lived in the apartment complex, but Stokes resides in North Carolina. Details about their relationship were not released.
Gunn was arrested Nov. 11, 2023, and charged with criminal damage to property and reckless conduct, Fulton County jail records show. She was released five days later after posting $20,000 bond.
Stokes was arrested the same day on the same charges and also released on $20,000 bond, according to jail records.
In March of this year, a Fulton County grand jury indicted both Gunn and Stokes on a single county of second-degree arson, court records show.
Then in October, the case was presented again to a grand jury. The second indictment secured against both suspects charged them with second-degree arson and 17 counts of criminal damage in the second degree —one for each apartment with damages exceeding $500, the indictment states.
Kayla Carter was among the residents who lost all of her belongings, including her school laptop from South College, class notes, pictures and the obituary of her brother who she said died three years before the fire. She wasn’t home when the blaze started.
“It definitely hurts,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution days after the blaze. “And knowing that I cannot get those things back. ... I have nothing, like not even a sock to my name.”
About five months after the fire, the burned-out building was demolished following delays caused by insurance claims and the criminal investigation, the project manager previously told The AJC.
The fire also closed a portion of Lavista Road for nearly six months.
A class-action federal lawsuit filed against the complex is pending. The suit alleges the building’s management knew of previous issues with the fire alarm system, but failed to act.
