James Meyer

Case record: James Meyer

Background

James Meyer was 15 years old at the time he pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and manslaughter and was sentenced on February 23, 2007.

Jessica Elaine Meyer was 13 years old. She died after being found in a garage fire at the home in the 8000 block of South Logan Drive.

Elaine Meyer worked for the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.

Jim Meyer was identified as one of the Meyer parents.

The offence

Jessica Elaine Meyer’s body was found on the floor inside the garage after the fire was extinguished.

Police said a fight between James and Jessica may have led to her death, and investigators said there was no sign of forced entry.

Police said James was next door with a friend when she died.

Police said investigators believed that James started the fire to conceal Jessica’s death or at least the cause of her death.

James Meyer pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and manslaughter.

Investigation

Investigators were scheduled to work back on the scene after the garage fire.

An autopsy was scheduled after Jessica’s death to help investigators determine how she died.

An autopsy later revealed that Jessica likely died as a result of a fire in her home.

The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office said preliminary findings showed Jessica’s death was fire-related, while the exact cause would not be known until toxicology and other tests results were back in two weeks.

Investigators did not release a cause of the fire at the time they were completing their investigation.

Arrest

Littleton police arrested James Meyer, the brother of the 13-year-old girl found dead in the family’s garage, after a two-month investigation.

Police arrested James for investigation of reckless manslaughter and first-degree arson.

James was being held without bond until the hearing.

James was not identified by 7News because a determination had not been made whether he would be charged as an adult or juvenile.

Trial

James Meyer was charged as an adult. He faced charges of first-degree arson and manslaughter.

A presentence investigation report was ordered and sentencing was set for Feb. 23.

Sean Dugan, a spokesman for the Littleton Police Department, said:

"We believe that he started the fire to conceal her death or at least the cause of her death"

Sean Dugan also said:

"We feel very strongly that (his) involvement is directly related to Jessica's death"

Sentencing

On February 23, 2007, a judge sentenced James Meyer for setting arson and killing his sister.

He was sentenced to a concurrent 12-year manslaughter sentence and an 18-year first-degree arson sentence in the Department of Corrections.

The judge agreed to suspend the sentence upon a 6-year successful completion in the Youth Offender Program located in Pueblo, Colorado.

Prosecutors were satisfied with the arrangement and said James would learn more at the Youth Offender Program than he would at the Department of Corrections, including how to cope with inappropriate sexual actions.

The Youth Offender Program was reported to offer counseling and continued education.

James did not make a statement at sentencing.

Elaine Meyer said:

"It goes without saying that this has been a horrible tragedy for our entire family. It was an accident that quickly went out of control,"

Sentencing was reported as occurring on Friday February 23, 2007.

Appeals

No appeal information was included in the provided material.

Outcome

James Meyer pleaded guilty to first-degree arson and manslaughter and was sentenced to 6-year successful completion in the Youth Offender Program on February 23, 2007.

Aftermath

At sentencing, the material included reactions from family and community members.

Several classmates of James Meyer staged a rally outside the fire-damaged home.

A friend said:

"He didn't have anything to do with it,"

Another friend said:

"We feel absolutely outraged that anyone would try and charge him --"

and added:

"-- for killing his sister. For God's sake, you know,"

Elaine and Jim Meyer said they could not handle the heartbreak of Jessica’s death if it had not been for support from the community, family, and friends.

Elaine Meyer said:

"I know Jessica is an angel up there going 'Oh my God, I can't believe all these people really care'"

and reported that her daughter was a:

"real sweetheart".

During the investigation the entire detective division in Littleton worked on the case.

Sgt. Sean Dugan told CBS4Denver that:

"We owe it to the family here and to Jessica to get to the bottom of what happened."

It was reported that many of the details as to why and how James set Jessica’s body on fire remained private.

Other details

The home location was described as “the 8000 block of South Logan Drive.”

The funeral was described as being held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Drinkwine Family Mortuary, 999 Littleton Blvd., in Littleton, with a visitation held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

Jessica had just finished eighth grade at Powell Middle School and was at home alone on summer break when the fire started.

James was described as a Heritage High School student.

Police said the house remained sealed as police and fire officials completed their investigations.

The material included that the autopsy results have been sealed.