Courtland woman accused of setting home on fire

Published 8:39 am Thursday, February 21, 2013

A mount of a whitetail deer is covered in soot after a fire at a Courtland home. Resident Dyna Lewis, 46, has been charged with setting the fire. GWEN ALBERS/TIDEWATER NEWS

A mount of a whitetail deer is covered in soot after a fire at a Courtland home. Resident Dyna Lewis, 46, has been charged with setting the fire. GWEN ALBERS/TIDEWATER NEWS

COURTLAND—Investigators say a Courtland woman set her Ivor Road home on fire Wednesday and punctured the tires on a truck after getting into a fight with her husband.

The Southampton County Sheriff’s Office charged Dyna Lewis, 46, with setting the 7:25 a.m. fire that heavily damaged two bedrooms and left the rest of the 22-year-old trailer with smoke damage. Lewis allegedly started the fire by lighting combustibles at several different places inside the home. Major Gene Drewery would not indicate what was used.

Drewery said Lewis was the only one who had access to the home and her husband, Hulon Lewis, was at work when the fire broke out.

The home was uninsured, said Hulon Lewis, who was surprised to hear about the charges against his wife.

“I don’t know what went on,” the 49-year-old said. “I left for work that morning and I called her, everything was fine. The next thing I know I get a phone call and hear my trailer was on fire.”

Upon arriving home, he said he attempted to call his wife, but got no answer.

“I know she was supposed to be here,” Hulon Lewis said.

Dyna Lewis was found after she was stopped by Emporia police between 7 and 8 a.m. Wednesday, said Police Chief Don Wyatt.

Court records indicate Lewis was charged with reckless driving and felony eluding for allegedly going 88 mph in a 60-mph zone and running a stop sign.

As of early Thursday morning, Hulon Lewis said he had not heard about his wife’s arrest.

“Nobody from the sheriff’s department gave me the information,” he said, although he was notified later. “I have not heard anything. Yesterday, I (heard) that she had gone missing.”

Drewery said Hulon Lewis was told Wednesday a warrant for his wife would be issued.

Cleaning around the home on Wednesday, Hulon Lewis walked through the trailer, which he believes has about $40,000 in damages. A television in one bedroom was completely melted and the fire destroyed a new computer. In the other bedroom, a soot-covered, water-damaged Bible lay open on a melted clock radio.

In the kitchen, Hulon Lewis’ partially eaten breakfast — a biscuit, bacon and full cup of coffee — remained neatly set and covered in soot. A mount of a whitetail deer that he took as young man also was covered in soot.

Dyna Lewis was charged with arson and destruction of property and taken to Southside Regional Jail without bond.