Man held without bail in fatal fire
Suspect allegedly poured vodka on campfire and left burning victim
A 42-year-old man was ordered held without bail Friday as he was arraigned on charges he poured vodka on a campfire off Pevey Street in Lowell on Thursday afternoon and then walked away without calling for help as another homeless man near the blaze was engulfed in flames and fatally burned.
Eugene Newton, who was found walking nearby shortly after the incident, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury after emergency crews responded to the area of 85 Pevey St., about 3:18 p.m., and found a man suffering from life-threatening burns, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.
A police report filed in Lowell District Court says first responders found a 42-year-old homeless Asian man whose “body was severely burned and his clothing had burned off.” First responders requested a MedFlight helicopter in an effort to get him to a trauma center, but the man died at Lowell General Hospital.
At the scene, police found two witnesses who tried using bolt cutters to get through a fence when they saw the victim on the ground near a growing fire on the other side of the fence. But both of those men told police the man, who was mumbling and appeared too drunk to easily stand, was engulfed in flames before they could cut through the fence.
A 52-year-old Lowell woman who was at the scene initially told police she didn’t know what happened because she had gone to a store for more liquor, but later admitted Newton — her boyfriend — had started a fire, according to a police report.
Lowell and State Police, with the Lowell Fire Investigation Unit and the State Fire Marshal’s Office, began to process the fire scene, with Lowell Detective Tracy Kelly saying in a police report that “it was apparent that individuals were living there, as there was clothing and other items. The area that had obtained the bulk of the fire damage contained large plastic barrels, wooden construction materials, large metal beams and a small portable hibachi style grill.”
At the same time, police began searching for Newton, who was found walking near a railroad bridge farther up the Pawtucket Canal. Newton was taken to the police station. Kelly’s report says Newton initially denied being aware of any fires, but after being confronted about smelling like a fire, eventually admitted he was present.
“He was asked if he had drank today and he replied that he drinks everyday,” Kelly wrote in a police report. Newton said he understood what was happening, though, and answered several questions from police to gauge his mental condition before he was read his Miranda rights, according to the report. Newton first told a lengthy and frequently changing story about a possible argument between those sitting around the fire to keep warm, before detailing events surrounding what happened with the fire.
“He stated that he and (redacted) were drinking from a handle of vodka and that he took the bottle and poured approximately 1/3 of the liquor onto the fire to ‘keep it going’ and that they were trying to stay warm. He stated that when he did this, the fire ‘got out of control’ and began to catch the wood behind them on fire,” Kelly wrote in a police report.
Newton said he told the woman and the victim — whose name is redacted from police reports — that they had to leave, but that the victim would not get up. Newton told police he “was trying to lift him and get him up but he was so intoxicated, he couldn’t lift him,” Kelly wrote.
“He (Newton) stated that the area was filling with thick black smoke and at that point all he was thinking about was his own survival and even though he was concerned for (redacted) he wanted to save himself,” Kelly wrote in a police report. “He stated that he left the area, leaving (redacted) and (the woman) behind. He stated he walked across the train track toward Porky’s Bridge.
“When asked if he attempted to call 911 he stated that he didn’t own a phone. When asked if he tried to notify anyone about the fire he stated no,” Kelly wrote in her report.
Newton was then told that the victim had died of his injuries, and that he was being charged, according to a police report.
“While (Newton) was being handcuffed and searched, I located a phone in his jacket, even though he originally started that he had no phone,” Kelly wrote in her report.
Newton was arraigned Friday morning in Lowell District Court, where Judge Stacey Fortes ordered him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday, April 23. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will rule on an exact cause of the death, and identification of the victim remains pending.
Newton’s attorney, Jeanne Early of Lowell, declined to comment.
At the scene on Thursday, the fire appeared to have occurred behind a building occupied by the businesses Picard Construction Corp., at 85 Pevey St., and Nicholas C. Sarris Inc., listed as a general contractor, at 87 Pevey St. Attempts by The Sun to reach the businesses on Thursday night were unsuccessful. Police reports indicated one of the businesses in the area provided police with surveillance footage.
Homeless camps in the area along the Pawtucket Canal have posed issues for first responders before, with fires being reported there several times over the years. In 2015, a police officer and firefighters rescued a homeless man from the canal after he fell asleep between a fire and the canal and rolled over a 20-foot ledge and into the canal. Pevey Street runs from School Street to Walker Street in the Acre section of Lowell.