Eden Prairie Man Gets 15 Years For Setting Fire To Townhome With Infant Inside

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — An Eden Prairie man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after federal prosecutors said he set fire to a townhome while five people, including an infant, were inside.

Abdirahman Abdi Abdullahi, 23, was sentenced to 180 months in prison for arson resulting in personal injury, U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen announced Monday.

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According to court documents, the Eden Prairie Fire Department responded to a townhome fire at 11:27 a.m. May 31, 2024.

Five people were inside the home when the fire started, including one adult man and four children, prosecutors said. When emergency responders arrived, they found the adult man and three children outside the home.

A 9-month-old baby was still inside the burning townhome, according to prosecutors.

Eden Prairie firefighters entered the home and found the baby, who survived but had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, authorities said.

Prosecutors said Abdullahi was on probation at the time for violating a restraining order that prohibited him from contacting the baby's mother, who lived in the home.

Two days before the fire, Abdullahi sent the woman a threatening message that said, "when I see u I’m smoke u," according to prosecutors.

That same day, Abdullahi went to the home's door and threatened to kill her, prosecutors said.

On the day of the fire, Abdullahi used a rental car rented by someone else and went to a nearby gas station with a red gas can, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Abdullahi filled the can with gasoline, then parked down the street from the home in a lot hidden by a row of hedges.

Wearing plastic gloves, Abdullahi carried the gas can and a large plastic bag through the hedges to the home, according to prosecutors. The bag was later found to be full of clothes.

A fire investigation found that Abdullahi used the gas can to douse the bag of clothes, then set it on fire at the entrance of the home, authorities said.

The flames collapsed the garage roof, melted the front doorknob and destroyed the home, prosecutors said. Neighboring townhomes were also damaged.

At sentencing, the court found that Abdullahi intended to kill the baby's mother when he set the fire, according to prosecutors.

The court also noted Abdullahi's level of planning and his "calculated, cold" preparation, prosecutors said.

Because of that, Abdullahi's sentence for arson followed the sentencing guidelines for attempted murder, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Minnesota State Fire Marshal, the Eden Prairie Police Department and the Eden Prairie Fire Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys William C. Mattessich and Matthew C. Murphy prosecuted the case.