Two people were arrested and two hospitalized Sunday morning after crews responded to a stabbing and mobile home fire in Tampa, authorities said.
Christopher G. Judson, 30, and a 17-year-old male are facing charges in the incident, which happened Sunday just before 10 a.m.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the teenage suspect was standing outside a mobile home on Baptist Church Road with the two victims - identified as 23-year-old Michael Stearns and 25-year-old Wessley Favata - and several other people when the teenager started arguing with the two victims.
Deputies say that during the argument, the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed both victims. Everyone who was present, including the suspect and the victims, fled the scene and scattered to other areas in the park. Stearns ran to lot 8 in the trailer park, where he met up with Judson, who lived there.
Deputies said Judson told them he "intentionally lit a comforter on fire inside his trailer to signal law enforcement that Michael Stearns was at his trailer." Judson also reportedly told deputies that he may have had drugs in his trailer prior to the fire being started.
Detectives said they think Judson was afraid that Stearns' presence at his trailer would draw unwanted attention to the drugs in his trailer, and that he started the fire to conceal evidence.
Judson is facing charges of second-degree arson. The teenager is facing two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. We are not naming the teenage suspect in accordance with our crime guidelines, as it is not yet known whether he will be charged as an adult.