According to Eustis police, Autumn Walker, 22, confessed to setting her grandfather’s, James Kilfoyle’s, home on fire. She had also planned to set his car on fire.
Elizabeth Price was on her porch when she saw the house across from her engulfed in smoke. It happened Monday in the 2200 block of Titcomb Street.
"I saw smoke billowing out the front. No flames but just lots of smoke and then the flames started in the back of the house," Price said.
"I walked out in the road and it was all in the air,” neighbor Cory Compton said. “We were walking down there and everything was on fire."
According to the arrest affidavit, Walker admitted to lighting her mattress on fire. She said she knew her grandfather was home and would put the fire out. Walker also said she lit a sock on fire and planned to stuff it in the gas tank of Kilfoyle's SUV but walked away. Walker said she was upset with Kilfoyle for selling her vehicles and not giving her the money.
"It is pretty sad that somebody would go to that length to get attention. I think it is what the issue was. It is sad. He has lost everything," Price said.
Price has lived across the street from Kilfoyle for 30-some years. She and others in the area described Walker as a typical child whose behaviors worsened as she got older.
"He looks like he is kind of worn out because he has been through these issues before with the granddaughter, trying to help her,” Price said. "As she got older she kept getting into trouble and staying with her grandfather.”
The report also said that Walker said she was going to "kill him" referring to her grandfather as she was being arrested.
Walker was booked at the Lake County Jail for first-degree arson and battery on a law enforcement officer.
She is currently being held on $12,000 bond.