Wife who set fire to husband's apartment gets 5 years

A wife who set fire to her husband's Hartwell, OH apartment, destroying it and two others, was sentenced to 5 years in prison followed by 5 years of probation on January 3, 2011. Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Steve Martin imposed the sentence on Shenique Anderson after she plead guilty on November 29 to a single count of aggravated arson. Five counts of arson were dropped by prosecutors as a result of the plea.

During the incident, Anderson claimed that someone was trying to burn down her apartment and was trying to kill her when she called 911. $600,000 in damage was done to 6 apartments, half to the building and the other half to other tenant's property. The husband had a restraining order out on Anderson at the time of the arson.

In court [the] morning [of January 3], Anderson said she believes brain damage she suffered to an organic brain disease, played a part in her setting that fire. She also said she suffers from bi-polar disorder and was in manic-high phase when this happened.

Anderson's apology is as follows. "First off, I want to apologize to my children. We've always had a close relationship and I also want to apologize. I also want to apologize for any inconvenience I have caused on my neighbors."