15-year-old murders man by setting Upstate NY home on fire, troopers say

Livingston, N.Y. — A 15-year-old has been charged with murdering a man by setting a home on fire last week in Upstate New York, troopers said.

The investigation started Friday afternoon when emergency responders rushed to a blaze at a Hudson Valley home with people trapped inside, the New York State Police said. The fire on State Route 9 in Livingston, a town about 45 minutes south of Albany, was reported at 1:42 p.m., state police records show.

Edmund W. Metz, of Livingston, was killed in the blaze and pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. He was 58 years old.

Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set by a 15-year-old from Hudson, troopers said. The teenager was charged with second-degree murder for acting with a “depraved indifference to human life” and first-degree arson, crimes both punishable by up to 25 years to life in prison.

Troopers did not specify how — or if — the teenager knew Metz.

The teen was arraigned in Columbia County Court and sent to the Columbia County Jail.