ST. CLOUD — Prosecutors have filed a motion seeking an extended prison sentence for a Paynesville man whose daughter died in a fire he’s accused of starting intentionally.
John Sean Newport, 46, is charged with second-degree, unintentional murder while committing a felony in the July 23 death of his daughter, Jamey, 22. He is in the Stearns County Jail, held on $2 million bail.
His next court hearing is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 14.
The motion seeks a longer than required sentence and lays out ways the alleged crime was committed with particular cruelty, made it difficult for the victim to escape and endangered others.
John Newport is accused of using gasoline to set fire to a mobile home while his daughter was inside.
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According to the motion, John Newport was living with Jamey Newport in the mobile home, and she was paying the bills. The afternoon of the fire, he allegedly asked his daughter to drive him to a hardware store, and when she refused began slamming things in the house and arguing with her.
When she said she was going to move out, he allegedly decided to set the mobile home on fire.
Newport allegedly poured gasoline in the home and on her beloved kittens in front of her. The afternoon before she died, a coworker visiting her saw her playing with the kittens outside the trailer. Jamey posted photos and videos of the kittens to her Facebook page, calling them her “babies.”
According to the motion, in a recorded 911 call, Jamey Newport told the operator that her father had poured gasoline in the house and on the kittens, and that she had gasoline on herself as well. In the recording, she can be heard saying her father was starting the fire. Then she screamed that her kittens were on fire, and she had to save them. She was found in the mobile home, but efforts to revive her were unsuccessful. She died of smoke inhalation.
Another aggravating factor listed in the motion is the close proximity of other mobile homes and a large tree with branches hanging over the Newport trailer and the one next door.
