Man Admits To Setting Deadly Burlington County Fire: Prosecutor

BURLINGTON CO., NJ — A Burlington man has pleaded guilty to starting a fire last spring that killed an apartment complex resident, said the county prosecutor's office.

Newlin Evans IV pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter on Wednesday, said Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw. The plea agreement is in exchange for a 22-year sentence in state prison, and sentencing is scheduled for March 24, Bradshaw said. Evans must serve 85 percent of this sentence before he is eligible for parole, she said.

The fire, which killed 22-year-old Camryn Powell, was at the Tara Hall Apartment Complex in Pemberton in the early morning of April 20, 2022. Evans cut the screen of a ground floor apartment, broke the window, and "threw material soaked in gasoline that he had lit on fire into the unit," said officials.

Two other people were injured, officials said at the time. Court records indicate Powell and Evans were "romantic rivals," according to the Burlington County Times.

Officials said that Evans then fled the scene and needed treatment at the hospital for burns he suffered. He was arrested after leaving the hospital in May, officials said.