TRENTON, N.J. — A Mercer County jury has convicted a Trenton man of setting a 2021 fire in Hamilton Township that killed four people, including a nine-month-old baby, and seriously injured four others, prosecutors announced this week.
Michael Sanders, 27, was found guilty on March 4 on multiple charges, including four counts of first-degree murder, four counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated arson, and one count of causing or risking widespread injury or damage.
The fire broke out around 3:40 a.m. on July 9, 2021, at 213 Woodlawn Avenue, rapidly spreading through both sides of the two-and-a-half-story duplex and partially collapsing the roof. Authorities found Malani Sanders, a nine-month-old girl, and her grandmother, Tiffany Abrams-Jones, 42, dead at the scene. Three others suffered critical burn injuries. Malani’s grandfather, Prince Jones, 50, died from his injuries on July 11, and Zamair McRae, 18, succumbed weeks later.
Investigators used surveillance footage and witness statements to track Sanders’ movements that night. They determined he had taken a taxi from near his Trenton residence and was dropped off a block from the home just after 3 a.m. Wearing a hooded sweatshirt, mask, and gloves, Sanders was seen walking past the residence about 15 minutes before the fire started.
Video footage from a nearby Fast Trac Gas Station on Greenwood Avenue showed Sanders purchasing a torch lighter and cigars about 10 minutes before the fire. During the purchase, he removed his mask, revealing his face. Shortly after he left the store, cameras captured him walking back toward 213 Woodlawn Avenue. Minutes later, the fire’s glow was visible in surveillance footage.
Additional video showed Sanders returning to his Bayard Street residence in Trenton without his mask, gloves, or sweatshirt. Investigators later found a dark hooded sweatshirt discarded in a nearby basement stairwell.
Prosecutors presented evidence that the fire was deliberately set on the front porch of the residence, making it one of the largest in Hamilton Township’s recent history.
Mercer County Administrative Assistant Prosecutor Rachel G. Cook and Assistant Prosecutor Laura Sunyak led the case for the state in a trial that lasted more than a month before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Lytle. Sanders was represented by defense attorney Mark Fury.
A sentencing date has not been announced.
