Man charged in deadly house fire in Plant City held without bond

PLANT CITY, Fla. - The man accused of setting fire to a mobile home in Plant City, killing four people and three dogs, had his first court appearance in Tampa Thursday, as court documents reveal more about the suspect.

Shawn Gossett, 25, will be held in jail without bond at least until his next hearing, as he faces four first-degree murder charges and an arson charge.

"It's just horrific. It absolutely is. There's a family of four who was killed," Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez told FOX 13 prior to Gossett's hearing. "We were very upset to hear about this yesterday morning. The sheriff's office and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue have done a great job with the investigation."

Gossett's criminal report affidavit indicates Gossett, who also lived at the home, initially told detectives he accidentally set the fire. The report indicates he eventually told investigators that he started the fire on purpose by igniting some paper towels and allowing it to spread to other items.

Chase Bowman, 30, Jessica Bowman, 26, Judy Foster, 70, and Joseph Clites, 48, were all killed in the fire.

RELATED: Man arrested for murder after four people killed in Plant City house fire: HCSO

Family friends, meanwhile, told FOX 13 Gossett has an intellectual disability. According to court documents, he told detectives Foster was receiving his disability checks and he was upset that the residents wouldn't let him move out of the home.

"He wanted to go back to his father’s house and asked Judy Foster and Jessica Bowman multiple times, but they would not let him," prosecutors wrote in the motion for pretrial detention. "They began speaking bad about [Gossett's] father which upset him. The idea of setting the house on fire came to him throughout the day. He did not want to kill anyone, but he did want to scare them. He knew if the house was burnt down that he would be able to go back to his father’s house."

According to the arrest affidavit, Gossett said he alerted the other residents that there was a fire, before he escaped the house with his dog.

The state attorney said prosecutors have just begun to review the case and aren't ready to discuss a possible sentence. She said any possible intellectual disability would be discussed between both sides.

"The public defender's office, who I believe is going to be representing him, and the attorney who will be representing the state of Florida in this case, will speak about the appointment of court appointed doctors to go and speak with this defendant and kind of get an idea of where he is intellectually, and the judge will be made aware of that as well," Lopez said.

Gossett's pretrial detention hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13.

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