Woman sentenced to 10 years in prison for High St. arson

♦ The woman, who the fire marshal described as a ‘serial arsonist,’ will attend a courtordered mental health program upon release.

A Rome woman has been sentenced to serve ten years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to five counts of first degree arson.

Norma Jean Thornton pleaded guilty to setting a fire at 1602 High St. in August 2018 which displaced six people who lived in the quadplex apartment building.

The sentencing hearing Friday occurred with more than a dozen members of the Rome-floyd Fire Department staff on hand.

Fire Marshal Mary Catherine Chewning characterized Thornton as a “serial arsonist” and testified that of the nine residents at the apartment complex, six were home when the fire was set and spread rapidly throughout the building. One of them was a 1-year-old child.

When Chewning met with Thornton in Cave Spring the following day, Chewning testified that Thornton admitted to setting the fires and had no remorse.

“She told us where everything was,” Chewning said, referring specifically to where authorities could find the lighter she used to set mattresses on fire.

Assistant District Attorney Emily Johnson sought to introduce evidence regarding two other fires that Thornton may have set as well as another fire on King Street that Thornton had been accused of but found not guilty.

“I’m just trying to show a pattern of behavior,” Johnson said.

Floyd Superior Court Judge Jack Niedrach said he would not consider the other incidents when determining Thornton’s sentence.

Judge Niedrach told attorneys that were it not for her mental health problems probably would not have committed the crime.

When released from the Department of Corrections, Thornton will be required to participate in the local mental health court program, which is overseen by Niedrach, if she is deemed eligible at the time of her release.

During her pre-sentencing argument, Johnson said she was a proponent of the mental health court but felt like the nature of the offense warranted a lengthy jail sentence.

“Public safety has to overcome outpatient treatment,” Johnson argued. “It’s only a matter of time before she kills someone.”

Defense counsel Radford Bunker argued that Thornton would not get the kind of mental health treatment she needed within the penal system.

“I believe the proper diagnosis is pyromania ... which she won’t get treatment for,” Bunker said.

By including the mental health court stipulation in the sentence, if eligible for the program, Thornton would get far more strict supervision that a general probationer, the judge said.

“Eyes will be on the defendant almost daily,” Judge Niedrach said.

She will be subject to surveillance both at home and at work as well as stringent drug screening.