A Landry Parish sheriff deputy's son has been arrested in connection with fires that gutted three black churches in the Louisiana parish over a span of 10 days, CBS News reports. The first fire destroyed St. Mary's Baptist Church in Port Barre on March 26, followed by a April 2 conflagration at Greater Union Baptist Church in Opelousas and an April 4 fire at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Opelousas. All three historically black churches are a few miles apart, and each has been active in the community for more than 100 years, The Acadiana Advocate reports.
KATC-TV identified the person in custody as 21-year-old Holden Matthews.
Last week, officials said they had not determined what caused the fires, though Louisiana State Fire Marshal H. "Butch" Browning called them "suspicious." More details are expected to be unveiled Thursday morning at a news conference with Browning, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D), Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz, and representatives of the FBI and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
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