An arrest has been made in the arson fire that gutted the Living Word Baptist Church in Marana last October.
The church was fully engulfed by the time Marana Police and Northwest Fire arrived at the scene, 13526 N. Sandario Road, on Oct. 25, according to a news release from Marana PD.
Evidence at the scene was recovered and submitted for forensic analysis, the news release said.
The analysis produced DNA evidence that allegedly linked the fire to 22-year-old Amarion Person, the news release said. Person was already in the Pima County Jail on an unrelated matter.
Marana Police investigators conducted an interview with Person on April 11 at the Pima County Jail. Through that interview, the news release said officers determined enough probable cause to establish charges against Person for arson of an occupied structure; criminal damage exceeding $10,000 and criminal trespass, 1st degree.
The church was targeted as a crime of opportunity and not for religious reasons, the news release said.
