Springfield Man Found Guilty of Setting Fire to Occupied Mobile Home
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
SPRINGFIELD, MO. — Jose Morales was found guilty of arson in the first degree on March 5, 2026, following a three-day jury trial in Greene County Circuit Court. The jury found Morales not guilty of a second count of tampering with a motor vehicle. The jury deliberated for just under 90 minutes before returning its verdict. Sentencing is scheduled for May 27, 2026, at 1:30 p.m. before Judge Kaiti Greenwade. Arson in the first degree is a Class B felony carrying a sentence of five to fifteen years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, with no parole eligibility until eighty-five percent of the sentence is served.
On the evening of October 15, 2024, the Battlefield Fire Department responded to a mobile home fire in Brookline, Missouri. Evidence at trial showed that Morales, who had been living at the residence, had been asked to leave by the property owner due to disruptive behavior and excessive drinking. Multiple occupants were asleep inside the mobile home when the fire broke out. Investigators determined the fire originated in Morales’s room, and witnesses described him fleeing the scene as the structure became engulfed in flames. The mobile home was a total loss.
The first fire truck arrived on scene within minutes of the 911 call. Greene County deputies who responded were quickly able to gather enough information to identify a suspect and transmit that information to law enforcement agencies in the area. Morales was apprehended approximately thirty minutes later by an officer with the Ozark Police Department after being stopped while driving erratically, with a preliminary breath test result of .148 BAC. Responding fire departments acted quickly to limit the spread of the fire, preventing what could have been a catastrophic loss across the mobile home community.
"The 911 call from neighbors who spotted the fire, and the immediate response from the Battlefield Fire Department and Greene County Sheriff's deputies, are the reasons everyone made it out alive that night. Morales made a choice that could have killed all of them. I am thankful for the jury’s verdict holding Morales accountable for his dangerous conduct." said Greene County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson.
The case was investigated by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Nicholas Bergeon and Amanda Johnson.
