People v. Thomas CA3

BACKGROUND

On the night of March 31, 2018, several people gathered at an apartment to bid farewell to Aryanna Doyle, who was relocating to Southern California. Doyle was showing signs of intoxication such as stumbling and slurred speech. She left the apartment without informing anyone. Across the street from the apartment was a park. A man named Kevin testified that Doyle was at the park with him and defendant in the early morning hours of April 1, 2018. They sipped from Doyle’s bottle of alcohol and engaged in small talk. Doyle told Kevin she had been hanging out and drinking in the park for a couple of hours. She asked Kevin to stay with her because she was “kind of creeped out” by defendant. Kevin sought to reassure her, saying he was acquainted with defendant and thought defendant was fine. Around 7:00 a.m., Doyle and defendant left the park together. At 9:11 a.m. someone called the fire department to report a fire. At 9:20 a.m., law enforcement fire investigators on patrol followed a large plume of smoke to a trailer park near where Doyle, Kevin, and defendant had been drinking. One of the trailers was on fire. Firefighters were already there when the fire investigators…