COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A jury found a 32-year-old man guilty of setting a house fire that killed his girlfriend’s mother and grandmother.
The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office called it a “tragic reminder” of domestic violence and its consequences.
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Michele LaCroix and Andrea Nall died in March 2023 after police said Robert Smith set their house on fire. Prosecutors said Smith was dating Nall’s daughter, Carolyn Parmalee, at the time of their deaths.
On Feb. 26, a Cobb County jury convicted Smith of two counts of felony murder and first-degree arson, plus aggravated battery and aggravated assault for beating his girlfriend.
He was sentenced to two life sentences plus 20 years in prison.
“This case is a tragic reminder of how domestic violence can escalate to devastating consequences,” Cobb County District Attorney Sonya F. Allen said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work of our prosecutors and law enforcement, justice has been served, and this defendant will never harm another person again.”
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Channel 2 Action News reported on Smith’s arrest in March 2023.
The DA’s Office said Parmalee pressed charges against him after she was hospitalized. She was given a no-contact order, but Smith continued to see her, according to prosecutors.
When Parmalee was hospitalized again a year later, and then a third time on Feb. 26, 2023, Nall tried to have Smith’s bond revoked for violating the no-contact order.
After he found out, Smith set a car on fire outside of Nall’s home, which then spread to the house.
About two weeks later on March 12, 2023, Smith went to Parmalee’s house with spray paint. The DA’s office said he used it as fuel to set a car in their carport on fire, which then spread to the house.
Nall and LaCroix were both inside the home, along with eight pets, all of whom died of smoke inhalation, officials said.
“This community was robbed of two amazing women who opened their home as a refuge,” Senior Assistant District Attorney Jared Horowitz, who prosecuted the case alongside Senior Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Green, said. “These two mothers did what any parent would—protect their children from an abuser. But this defendant used fire to seek revenge. Justice prevailed today, and his reign of terror is finally over.”
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