12-year-old pleads guilty to arson day after setting fire inside SC Walmart
A 12-year-old South Carolina boy accused of using a torch to start a fire in the Lancaster Walmart Sunday pleaded guilty to arson Monday and could face jail up to age 22, according to prosecutors and his lawyer.
The fire happened at the same store on the S.C. 9 Bypass where a shootout April 1 sent shoppers running for safety.
The boy is not being identified because of his age. He was arrested shortly after the fire Sunday afternoon, 6th Circuit Solicitor Randy Newman told The Herald. The boy tried four times to start a fire before the blaze took hold in the crafts section of the store, said Newman, who is the top prosecutor for Lancaster County.
Nobody was hurt in the store but employees and customers had to evacuate.
Court testimony Monday showed the boy allegedly tried to set another fire Sunday at a nearby Goodwill store, Newman said.
He pleaded guilty at the Lancaster County Courthouse to second-degree arson in the Walmart fire, according to Newman and the boy’s lawyer, 6th Circuit Public Defender William Frick.
In South Carolina Family Court, sometimes called juvenile court, children can face a sentence that ends at age 22 but could finish earlier. Sentencing will come in a couple of months in Family Court after the boy receives a mental evaluation at the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice, where he remains in custody, Newman said.
No motive has been released.
The boy was appointed a lawyer after his arrest. Frick told The Herald he met with the boy and his family Monday before court and determined an immediate guilty plea was best to get the boy the help he needs in the juvenile justice system.
Some types of treatment are not available for juvenile defendants until there is case disposition, Frick said.
“This (guilty plea) was the best thing for this young man at this point,” Frick said. “Now he can get the help he needs as quickly as possible.”
The amount of damage to the store, which remains closed, has not been released. The Lancaster Fire Department put out the fire in a few minutes, fire chief Justin McClellan said.
Police immediately found evidence that showed arson, Lancaster police chief Don Roper said in a statement.
Roper said police will not “tolerate anyone placing the community in danger with criminal behavior.”
Lancaster is a small city of around 9,000 people east of Rock Hill and south of Charlotte where crime has now twice in a month rocked the busy Walmart store and the community.
In the April 1 shootout, six people — including one 15-year-old — were arrested after shots were fired around 2:30 in the afternoon inside the store.
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 8:55 AM.
