Sandy woman to spend at least 15 years in prison after setting fire that destroyed 6 apartments

SANDY — A Sandy woman was sent to prison Monday for setting a fire at an apartment complex that left six units uninhabitable.

Crystal Nichole Moss, 39, was found guilty on May 15 of aggravated arson, a first-degree felony, after a two-day jury trial. A judge on Monday sentenced her to a term of 15 years to life in prison.

Charging documents said she was trying to go viral and get attention when she started a fire at Liberty Heights Apartments in Sandy, where she lived, about 3 a.m. on a Sunday in March 2023.

Police officers already in the area were able to bang on doors and wake up tenants, helping everyone get out. Those two officers also had to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Moss said she used a lighter to “ignite a tree of life” in her bedroom, but after finding it hard to ignite, poured a bottle of alcohol on it, later adding rubbing alcohol and other materials because the fire wasn’t “big enough,” according to court documents, which said her intent “was to burn away the negative energy, sadness and pain in her life.”

Third District Judge Coral Sanchez said Moss now blames the fire on electrical problems, but added that does not match the evidence.

She said she did not understand how, after watching video at the trial, Moss was not mortified by her actions. The judge said Moss’ next-door neighbor’s family, with young children and teenagers, was able to leave their apartment minutes before it was engulfed in flames — “because of the fire that you started.”

Sanchez said if an officer had come a few minutes later, the children would have still been in the apartment.

When given the chance to make a statement at the hearing, Moss said she plans to appeal and threatened a lawsuit.

Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Mary Wilcox said over the two years the case has been pending, her goal has been to get treatment for Moss, but the woman has not been willing to receive treatment. She said Moss shows a lack of accountability or remorse for actions that could have caused others’ deaths.

Moss’s attorney, Lance Bastian, said that based on his conversations with Moss, he recommends the statutory prison sentence because she is not willing to get any mental health treatment. He said he explained to her that there was an option to ask for her to be released into mental health treatment when a bed is available, but Moss chose not to request that.

“I feel like my hands are tied,” he said.

Sanchez told Moss that she is a threat to the community because she is not willing to recognize that she has issues that need to be addressed, which is why the judge had no option other than the prison sentence.

Moss is scheduled for another hearing on Sept. 23 for the judge to consider what money she should owe victims because of the damages the fire caused.