Florida Woman Legally Burns House of Man Who Raped and Murdered Her Daughter

The law allowed Diena Thompson to burn down the house of the man who raped and murdered her daughter legally.We know the life will never be replaced but was this fair?

Via NYDailyNews

Diena Thompson’s desire for revenge burned white hot, but she didn’t break any laws when she finally got it.

Wearing a firefighter jacket and a cathartic smile, the mother of a 7-year-old who was raped and murdered got some measure of payback by helping local smoke-eaters burn down the Florida home of the man now serving a life sentence for the crime. It was a firefighter training exercise.

“I get to burn their house down,” Thompson told News4Jax Thursday after throwing a flare into the Orange Park, Fla. home. “I am the big bad wolf this time, knocking down your door.”

Jarred Harrell lured little Somer Thompson inside the suburban Jacksonville horror house as she was walking home from school on Oct. 19, 2009. He sexually assaulted and smothered her before dumping her body in the trash.

Thompson’s remains werefound days later in a Georgia landfill. Harrell pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping, sexual battery and other charges—avoiding the death penalty—and was sentenced to life in prison.

The house was foreclosed on and the bank transferred ownership to the Somer Thompson Foundation, which turned around and gave it to the Orange Park Fire Department to use for training,The Florida Times-Union reported.

They torched the building, to the delight of Thompson, 40, her neighbors and friends.

“It’s really nice to know that I’m not ever going to have to drive in this neighborhood again and see this piece of trash,” said Thompson, who one day earlier was allowed inside the home and took an axe to the walls.

 

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