Edi Diazabakana, 39, is facing charges including arson, attempted murder, domestic assault and battery on a household member and kidnapping, according to Peabody police. He was ordered held without bail following his arraignment Wednesday in Peabody District Court.
A Peabody, Massachusetts, man is facing a slew of serious charges after his girlfriend told police he was trying to kill her when they came to an apartment in response to a fire there, according to officials.
Edi Diazabakana, 39, is facing charges including arson, attempted murder, domestic assault and battery on a household member and kidnapping, according to Peabody police. He was ordered held without bail following his arraignment Wednesday in Peabody District Court.
A news release from the police department said officers in Peabody responded to a fire alarm on Lowell Street at around 11 p.m. Tuesday. An officer who responded said that there was a woman yelling for help, saying that her boyfriend was trying to kill her, the release said.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
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According to the police report, when they arrived, officers found a 50-year-old woman laying down in the street by the curb, "crying and visibly upset." The woman told police there was a fire in her apartment and her daughter was still inside.
"She informed me her daughter's boyfriend started the fire and had tried to kill them both," the report said.
When police entered the lobby, they said a 28-year-old woman came running down the stairs, naked, and said her live-in boyfriend, later identified as Diazabakana, was still upstairs inside their apartment. She later told police she had broken off their relationship earlier in the evening and he "had not taken the news well and was upset with her."
"She stated she was sleeping and he came into the bedroom, intentionally lit a fire on the bed and told her that he was going to kill her and himself," the officer wrote in the report. The woman said Diazabakana also struck her in the face multiple times, which caused her to be "visibly bleeding from the nose," according to police.
Diazabakana then came out of the apartment with his hands up, and was handcuffed and taken into custody without further incident.
"I could smell smoke, gasoline and both myself and the suspect were soaked through due to the sprinkler system," the police report said.
A red five-gallon gas can and blow torch were later found in the apartment.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
The Peabody Fire Department responded to the scene and was able to extinguish the fire. The exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation by multiple agencies.
The Red Cross of Massachusetts is assisting about 20 residents who were displaced because of the fire.
Both women suffered "significant burns to their lower leg areas," according to the police report. A relative told NBC10 Boston that they remain hospitalized.
