The identity of the arsonist involved in the Wednesday, May 4, arson fire in LaFayette has been released as well as the motive for the arson.

According to LaFayette police detective Darin Kelley, Joshua Ray Wallin, 26, of LaFayette was arrested on Fri-day, May 20, after a warrant was issued and served on Wallin for the arson fire at 202 East Indiana St. The warrant was issued on May 17 following investigations.

According to Kelley, on the day after the May 4 arson, Wallin called his estranged wife, who resides in the apartment building at 201 Loach St. attached to the outbuilding, and told her over the phone while family members listened, “The job wasn’t finished. Maybe next time it burns, you (wife) and your brother and his girlfriend would be in the building.”

Loach Street and East Indiana Street in LaFayette run parallel to each other and the two structure’s addresses meet at the property line.

Wallin had previously lived at the apartment with his wife, until he was kicked out, and Kelley said the two have been in a domestic dispute for some time involving child custody.

The wife’s parents live next to the apartment building and take care of the child as well, Kelley said.

Wallin has been charged with arson and making terroristic threats.

On May 20, Wallin was arrested and taken to the Walker County jail, where he was released over the weekend on a $5,000 bond. Each charge carried a $2,500 bond.

Witnesses to the arson saw a man inside the outbuilding on May 4 with a light stick, setting the fire.

The nature of the fire is still under investigation with the state fire marshal’s office.

“The cause of the fire was determined to be intentionally set. Four samples were collected at the structure and sent to the Georgia crime lab,” state fire marshal Jerry Parrish said.

This is Wallin’s first arrest and first criminal offense, Kelley said.