Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Henderson woman arrested for having her son set her van on fire

A woman accused of having her 11-year-old son burn her van, causing him to suffer second-degree burns, was charged today with arson and child abuse.

Henderson Police arrested Juanita Denise Carr, 30, on Sept. 11. Carr admitted to police that she had asked her son to set the van on fire with gasoline, a Henderson Police arrest report said.

The report indicates the following:

Carr said she initially thought the van had been stolen and reported the theft to Metro Police. She later learned that her son and her daughter’s 18-year-old boyfriend had taken it and left it at the Silver Bowl, on Weisner Way.

She told police that she was a month behind on payments and the van often overheated despite her spending $1,200 to fix it. So she asked her son and the 18-year-old boy to take her to the car. Along the way, she picked up a one-gallon gasoline can and filled it up.

Once at the car, she said she had her son pour the gasoline into van and then light it on fire with a lit napkin. The flames, however, also caught her son’s shirt on fire. She patted out the flames and took him to Green Valley Grocery at Flamingo Road and Mountain Vista, where she called University Medical Center.

Police arrested her the next day.

Carr was charged with conspiracy to commit arson, third degree arson and child abuse, neglect or endangerment.

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