Kassi Brandeberry was seventeen years old living in Ohio when she set a fire that would kill a teen
According to court documents Kassi Brandeberry would set fire to a home that would kill a fourteen year old teen, injure another teen and a firefighter battling the blaze
Kassi Brandeberry lawyers would tell the court that she did not know anyone was home
Kassi Brandeberry would be convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for fifteen years
Kassi Brandeberry Photos
Kassi Brandeberry Now
Number W095577
DOB 12/11/1997
Gender Female
Race White
Admission Date 06/09/2016
Institution Dayton Correctional Institution
Status INCARCERATED
Kassi Brandeberry Sentencing
The Toledo teen who admitted to starting a fire that killed a 14-year-old and injured another teen could spend the rest of her life in prison.
Kassi Brandeberry, was sentenced to 21-years to life in prison on Tuesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court. She pleaded guilty in April to one count of murder and two counts of aggravated arson for the May 2, 2015 fire that killed Joseph Fazenbaker and seriously injured Michael Rheinbolt.
Fazenbaker, 14, was killed in the fire at 235 Willard in Toledo.
Kassi Brandeberry, who was a 17-year-old at the time of the fire, was sentenced on one count of murder, two counts of aggravated arson, and one count of burglary. Her sentences total 21 years to life in prison. Judge Duhart told the court that the sentences will be served consecutively out of a necessity to protect the public from the danger posed by Brandeberry.
Rheinbolt was severely injured in the fire, causing him to undergo weeks of treatment for kidney failure and other injuries. A Toledo fireman was also injured as a result of the intentionally-set fire. “I want to acknowledge the harm you’ve caused to the fireman that was involved in this act,” Judge Myron Duhart said at Tuesday’s sentencing. “Part of his job is to fight fires and protect the community. (He) didn’t deserve that either. You’ve put just so many people in harms way.”
The teen’s defense attorney addressed the court prior to sentencing, saying Kassi Brandeberry’s rough troubled youth contributed to her poor judgement on the night of the fire. “You could probably teach a PhD course in psychology based on her first 17 years of life,” Brandeberry’s attorney said of her childhood. “She didn’t realize, when she decided to set fire to the house, that there were people inside the house. Her intention was not to take someone’s life.”
“I understand that you have gone through and did go through some dysfunction in your life, but who hasn’t,” Judge Duhart said. “That does not justify those type of actions, Ms. Brandeberry. Where do you get that from?”
“I don’t know,” Kassi Brandeberry replied, through tears.
“Well, you need to know. You need to think about it,” said Judge Duhart. “Everyday that you spend in prison, you need to think about that.”
Judge Duhart also ordered Brandeberry to register as an arson offender upon her release from prison. She must also pay more than $13,000 in restitution to the family’s of her victims, and including $1,089 to the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department for costs of their investigation into the fatal fire.
Rheinbolt said outside the courtroom that he believes the sentence handed down was fair, but did not feel that Brandeberry’s comments in court were genuine. “I feel like, even after Kindergarten, somebody knows the difference between right and wrong.”