A judge on Monday raised Dakota Harper’s bond from $10,000 to $20,000 and added home confinement as the case against him moves forward in Charleston. Harper had been in court for a preliminary hearing in the arson case tied to a fire at an abandoned home on Maryland Avenue.
The bond change matters because it shifts Harper’s immediate custody conditions while prosecutors pursue first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson. The same charges were filed last week against Felicity Eatmon, and the case is now moving through the court on the strength of surveillance video investigators say captured what happened before the fire was reported about 11:15 p.m. on Sept. 27.
That video, investigators said, showed Harper and Eatmon in an adjacent alleyway before the blaze. It then showed Eatmon handing Harper what appeared to be a piece of paper, the paper being lit and placed inside the home, and the pair partially entering the building as the fire grew. Eatmon later left the area, while Harper had already moved out of the camera’s view.
The damage did not stop at the abandoned house. The nearby Canaan United Methodist Church sustained more than $10,000 in estimated damage from the fire, giving the case a broader impact than the building where the blaze began.
But Monday’s hearing also brought a different picture into the courtroom. Friends and family members of the 22-year-old were there in support, and Harper’s attorney, Michael Carey, asked that he be released to a facility where he could receive care. Outside the legal filings, Bianca Roberts said, “I’ve been taking care of Dakota and Felicity for the past couple months now,” and added that mental illness matters. Hope Taylor and Chynna Scott described a pattern of mental-health struggles and attempts to help both Harper and Eatmon.
That is the fault line in this case: family and friends are describing illness and help-seeking, while prosecutors are pressing felony arson charges and tighter release conditions after saying the video shows the start of the fire. Eatmon is expected back in court Tuesday, and the next hearing will matter because it may show whether the case is built to stay centered on the video or whether the defense can push the court toward treatment instead of jail.
