Teen charged with breaking into home with kids inside, lighting explosive

By Brett Kast, Jordan Nagel

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    MOUNT CLEMENS, Michigan (WXYZ) — A Mount Clemens family is thankful to be alive after Macomb County prosecutors say a teenager broke into their home in the middle of the night and detonated an explosive device.

Seven people were inside the home, including three young children. Thankfully, everyone was able to escape unharmed, but the home now has extensive damage.

It happened round 3 a.m. on April 10 at a home on Eldredge Street. Delvon Lee was in the home at the time with his 9-month-old son.

“You just hear a big old boom, like it was just loud,” Lee said. “It sounded literally like someone threw an M-80 in there. Just — it blew up. When I went downstairs, first it was like a little fire. It wasn’t nothing big.”

But that fire spread quickly and engulfed the front of the home. Lee, his son, his son’s mother and grandmother, a 2-month-old, along with a cousin and her 9-month-old all ran out the back door and hopped a fence to safety.

“You just see the whole front of this just burst in flames,” Lee said. “It was crazy.”

Videos and photos taken after the fire show the extensive damage inside the home. The babies were checked out at the hospital, but everyone was OK.

“My main concern was making sure my son was good and everybody was out the house,” Lee said.

Soon after the escape, it became clear the fire was intentionally set. Five days after the fire, the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office announced a 17-year-old was taken into custody, accused of breaking into the home and lighting an explosive.

Lee says the teen had briefly been talking with the female cousin who lived in the home and she refused to go out with him earlier that night.

“This is a kid ruining his life over a girl he met five days ago,” Lee said.

The home was a rental, but the family lost many of their belongings that were burnt inside the home. There’s now an online fundraiser to help support.

The teen accused of being responsible for this is still in custody at the Juvenile Justice Center. Prosecutors are discussing charging him as an adult. He’s due back in court on April 17.

“We will make a determination about the totality of charges against the alleged perpetrator following a thorough review of all available evidence,” Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said. “This was an extremely serious crime that endangered the lives of seven people and caused substantial damage to a home. I am especially outraged that the lives of two infants were put a risk. The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office will not tolerate this reckless disregard for human life and private property.”

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