Dayton man found not guilty by reason of insanity in arson that killed mother

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A bench trial, or a trial by judge, started Monday morning. The verdict was announced about two hours later.

Dennis appeared by video conference as he is currently at Summit Behavioral Health.

Judge Barbara Gorman determined that he will remain at the mental health facility.

“The judge will maintain jurisdiction over him for the course of his life,” said Prosecutor Lynda Dodd. “So the rest of his life he will be in the mental health system. Every two years will undergo a process of reevaluating where he should be.”

She called the verdict a “reasonable result” and added that the people who worked with Dennis realized he was “significantly mentally ill.”

Dennis was accused of using a lighter to set a couch on fire at a house on South Terry Street on fire on Feb. 22, 2018 with his mother, Julie Dennis, and brother, Johnathan Dennis, still inside.

When firefighters arrived, Johnathan had escaped the fire to the roof, but Julie was trapped in the burning house. James was already outside.

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Julie died six days later from her injuries.

James Dennis admitted to fire investigators that he set the fire during an interview and mention a “red devil,” Dodd said.

“There were a lot of manifestations of mental illness that he endorsed, both to the investigator and to Dayton homicide [crews],” she said.