Iowa City man faces up to 150 years for arson, trapping 5 people in apartment

IOWA CITY — A Johnson County jury convicted an Iowa City man last week for attempting to kill his former girlfriend, her boyfriend and three children in 2021 when he poured lighter fluid under her apartment door, igniting a blaze that trapped them inside.

Ishmael S. Carter, 32, faces up to 150 years in prison. He was found guilty of first-degree arson and five counts of attempted murder. Each offense is a Class B felony with a prison term of 25 years.

Jurors deliberated more than four hours following the three-day trial, which started Jan. 17, according to court documents.

His sentencing is set for April 14 in Johnson County District Court.

Chadsitty Brown first reported to police that her ex-boyfriend, Carter, was outside her apartment at 612 E. Court St., knocking on her door for about 20 minutes on June 13, 2021. She spied Carter through the peephole as he was lying on the floor in front of her door.

During the call she told a dispatcher the knocking stopped and she thought he left. She called back at 11:14 p.m. and reported her apartment was on fire.

Brown said after she thought Carter left, she heard what sounded like water being poured underneath her upper-level apartment door, according to court documents. It actually was lighter fluid, which started a blaze that trapped her boyfriend, Corey Peterson, and her three children, all under the age of 5, inside the apartment.

Police said Brown and the others were able to go out on the apartment’s balcony until the Iowa City Fire Department extinguished the fire. No one was injured, but the fire caused an estimated $50,000 in damage, according to police.

A criminal complaint and search warrant affidavit said police found Carter watching the fire from a nearby driveway, and witnesses saw him inside the apartment building and outside the building before the fire.

Carter denied that he had been at the apartment or started the fire, according to the affidavit. He said he just woke up and went out on his porch at 313 S. Dodge St. to smoke a cigarette. He then saw lights and heard sirens, so he walked over to Court Street and saw the fire.

Carter had a lighter in his pocket and was wearing an ankle monitor, according to the affidavit. He told officers his ankle monitor was “dead,” and he received a call saying he needed to return home and charge it.

Carter was on probation for a 2020 conviction of third-degree sexual abuse and was required to wear a GPS monitor, according to court documents.

Later that night, police found a bottle of lighter fluid in the dumpster behind the Court Street apartment. A surveillance video was taken from L & Mighty Shop, which is two blocks from Carter’s and Brown’s residences. It showed Carter entered the shop about 11:05 p.m., and a clerk helped him find lighter fluid. Carter paid for it, left and was opening it with his mouth. This video was showed to the jury during trial.

When investigators were attempting to get a copy of the video footage, Carter walked into the shop and again denied his involvement in the fire, according to court documents. Investigators showed him a screenshot of him purchasing the lighter fluid, but he denied it was him. Later, after being arrested, Carter told an investigator he purchased the fluid for his grill.

Investigators went to his home and asked his roommate where they keep the lighter fluid, according to the affidavit. The roommate said their grill was electric and didn’t need lighter fluid.

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