PHILADELPHIA — A West Philadelphia man, frustrated that his girlfriend had ended their relationship, drove to her home in Darby Township early Sunday and started a fire that killed her younger sister, investigators said Wednesday.
Aaron Clark, 30, was charged with first- and third-degree murder, attempted murder, reckless endangerment, and related offenses for allegedly setting the blaze, in which Olivia Drasher, 20, died.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer called Clark's behavior "an act of pure evil," and pledged to hold him accountable for the death of Drasher, who was confined to a wheelchair.
"A young woman afflicted by cerebral palsy, who we understand had been lovingly cared for by her mother and her sister, lost her life in one of the most agonizing manners imaginable," Stollsteimer said. "A life has been lost, and a family home has been destroyed."
Clark remained in custody, denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
Clark had been arrested hours after the fire on another warrant: Drasher's sister, Amira Rogers, reported to police that Clark had choked her on Saturday morning at his home as she ended their tumultuous relationship, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.
The two worked together at the Postal Service building on Lindbergh Avenue in Eastwick, and Clark's increasingly aggressive behavior had caused Rogers to file a complaint against him with the Postal Inspection Service, the affidavit said.
Even after that complaint had been filed, Clark continued to text Rogers, investigators said. He threatened to post explicit photos and videos of Rogers on social media if she didn't talk with him, according to court documents.
"Pick up before I do something crazy," he said to her, according to the affidavit. "You don't want to miss the show."
Hours later, about midnight Sunday, a neighbor saw Clark throw something onto the front porch of the family's house, the affidavit said. The neighbor then saw an orange "glow," the document said, and watched as Clark quickly walked away from the home.
The fire, which was started outside Olivia Drasher's first-floor bedroom, quickly spread. A nurse who cared for Drasher alerted the family, and the others inside the home were able to leave safely.
But they were unable to go back for Drasher. When firefighters arrived minutes later, they were unable to enter the home because the smoke and flames were too intense.
Darby Township Police Chief Mike Sousa said Wednesday that Clark, who had dated Rogers for months, knew Drasher would be in the home when he set the fire, and knew she would have difficulty leaving it quickly.
"This is the most evil act committed by an absolute monster that I have ever had to investigate," Sousa said.
An autopsy later revealed that Drasher died from a combination of smoke inhalation and burns, the affidavit said.
The Drasher family told detectives almost immediately that they believed Clark was the culprit. Surveillance footage from the neighborhood captured him walking away from their home minutes after the fire was set, according to the affidavit.
In the footage, Clark is wearing distinct, Modisch brand sweatpants, the same clothing he was seen wearing at the Postal Service building in Philadelphia during his shift hours earlier.
After his arrest, while in a holding cell, Clark was still sending messages to the Drasher family, according to the affidavit. When officers investigated, he became combative, fighting and spitting on them, the document said. They later found that he had hidden an Apple Watch in his rectum.
