Woman charged with arson invokes Martina McBride after setting fire to home

A Newton woman invoked the Martina McBride song “Independence Day,” a song about a wife burning down her abusive husband’s house, after starting two fires in her boyfriend’s home this week. She has since been charged with first-degree arson, a Class B felony with a maximum sentence of 25 years.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by Newton News, police had received a call regarding a domestic issue at 1:15 p.m. Sept. 29. When an officer arrived to the scene, he met with the boyfriend in the neighbor’s front yard and was told Kelly Durrett Elder, 48, had lit a fire inside the house prior to cops arriving.

Even though the fire had been extinguished, the officer called for an additional unit and the fire department to respond and inspect the damage. All the while, the criminal complaint said Durrett Elder was yelling nonstop at her boyfriend and the officer from the front porch of the home.

When police spoke with Durrett Elder, they noticed her entire face, lips, teeth and arms were covered in black soot. Officers could also clearly smell from the outside that there had been a fire inside the home. Durrett Elder was agitated and talking nonstop, and she admitted several times to lighting the fire or fires.

“What if the house would have became fully engulfed?” a police officer asked.

The criminal complaint states Durrett Elder shrugged her shoulders and said: “Oh well. This is my ‘Independence Day’ just like the Martina McBride song.”

Lyrics from “Independence Day” tell the story of a daughter recounting how her mother burned down the house while she was gone for a Fourth of July celebration: Well, she lit up the sky that fourth of July / By the time that the firemen come /They just put out the flames / And took down some names.

Upon entering the house, police noticed significant fire and smoke damage from two separate fires in the kitchen and living room that had been intentionally set by Durrett Elder. The boyfriend told officers it all stemmed from an ongoing domestic situation and he requested a no-contact order be placed by the courts.