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Woman arrested after 2 dead bodies recovered from building fire in West Valley

The deadly fire was reported on the night of April 27 near 59th Avenue and Buckeye Road.

PHOENIX — A woman has been arrested for her alleged involvement in a deadly fire reported in the West Valley on April 27.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said Katisha Smith is facing charges of murder and arson after she was allegedly involved in torching a building near 59th Avenue and Buckeye Road.

The fire was first reported at about 10 p.m. last Saturday in the business complex. After the fire was extinguished, two dead bodies were recovered. The two individuals were alive when structure was on fire, court records show.

Surveillance footage captured an individual throwing an incinerator device at the structure moments before the fire started.

MCSO said Smith was identified as one of the suspects allegedly involved in the fire. Smith allegedly told investigators she was "forced to participate" in the incident, records show.

The case remains under investigation.

Smith was booked into the Maricopa County jail on May 2.

   

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How big is Maricopa County?

Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.

The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).

One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.

The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.

The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.

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