He was also sentenced for violating his probation for a 1st-degree murder conviction.
Byron Alton Bowie. (Photo from Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office)
Frederick, Md (KM) A stiff sentence was handed down on Tuesday to a Frederick man for setting his ex-girlfriend’s house on fire. The State’s Attorney’s Office says Byron Alton Bowie, 49, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for 1st-degree arson. He also given a concurrent life sentence for violating his probation. Prosecutors say the arson was a violation of Bowie’s probation related to a 1st-degree murder conviction in 1992.
Bowie pleaded guilty on August 1st, 2024 to 1st-degree arson.
On November 24th, 2023, Frederick Police were dispatched to 2203 Waller House Court for a domestic in progress where a man was threatening a woman who lived there that he was going to burn the house down and kill everyone. A neighbor and a witness told police the argument took place on the rear deck of the house. . Officers found no one inside the home.
Fire and rescue personnel were dispatched after the house caught fire with flames showing from the roof and the windows. The defendant was observed on home surveillance making entry into the home by breaking the glass on a rear door..
Bowie was apprehended near Whittier Drive. Police were able identify Bowie as the man who broke in prior to the fire.
The victim arrived on the scene and found her home extensively damaged by fire.
The State’s Attorney’s Office say Bowie was being supervised by the Division of Parole and Probation after having been released following a sentence modification hearing in May, 2022. It was pursuant to a provision of the law which was recently enacted allowing for modification of sentencing for for crimes committed as a juvenile, but the defendant had been charged as an adult.
By Kevin McManus