Minneapolis, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Minneapolis woman is facing multiple murder and arson charges.

According to the criminal complaint filed against 35-year-old Deonna Marie Presbury, she is accused of starting two fires inside a Minneapolis apartment building on the night of August 13 of last year. Two people died in the blaze and two others suffered serious injuries.

The court document says fire investigators discovered two separate points of origin for the fire. One was set outside a second floor apartment and originated at a pair of pink rollerblades that were on the ground near a green bicycle. The other fire was also started on the second level in a rear stairway, which allowed the fire to quickly spread to the upper floors and the roof of the building.

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The charging document says a witness reported being involved in an argument with Presbury moments before the fires started. The witness told investigators that Presbury had demanded the return of some property, including a green bicycle and a set of pink rollerblades.

The criminal complaint states that two other witnesses heard Presbury threatening to start a fire and one of them reported that she smelled smoke coming from the hallway just a few minutes after Presbury left with her daughter and their belongings. The evidence in the case also includes some surveillance camera images that show Presbury and her daughter in the area where the fire was started in the rollerblades, which had been left behind.

(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
(Photo: Alex Svejkovsky, WJON)
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According to the court document, investigators later took a statement from Presbury during which she denied even being at the apartment building on the night of the fire. When she was confronted with the images that showed her in the hallway where the fire started, investigators say she admitted being present but also told them her only knowledge of the fire was from the news and her sister.

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Presbury is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and three counts of first-degree arson. She was formally arraigned on the charges in Hennepin County Court this afternoon and her bail was set at $1 million.

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