Woman sentenced for setting her bedroom on fire

BILLINGS (AP) – A 47-year-old Billings woman was given a three-year suspended sentence for setting fire to her residence.

The Billings Gazette reports District Judge Russell Fagg sentenced Hermalinda Marie Ramirez on Monday. She pleaded guilty to arson in December as part of a plea agreement that called for dismissing two counts of felony assault with a weapon.

Court records alleged Ramirez became angry because she believed someone was stealing her property so she poured gasoline in her bedroom and set a fire in February 2014.

Dispatchers received a report of the fire at about the same time Ramirez’s sister called to report Ramirez was threatening her and her son with a pipe wrench.

Public defender Gregory Paskell emphasized the fire took place after Ramirez stopped taking her medication. He says she is back on her medications.