Latoya Shamaya Ann Mothe, 20, sentenced for car-destroying act of revenge arson

A 19-year-old woman left a car “melted and destroyed” on an Edmonton street after she soaked her underwear in petrol and used it to set the vehicle on fire in an act of revenge, a Cairns court has heard.

Latoya Shamaya Ann Mothe, now 20, pleaded guilty to one count of arson after she set alight a woman’s newly bought Toyota Corolla in an act of revenge against the woman’s family in July last year.

A 19-year-old woman left a car “melted and destroyed” on an Edmonton street after she soaked her underwear in petrol and used it to set the vehicle on fire in an act of revenge, a Cairns court has heard.

Latoya Shamaya Ann Mothe, now 20, pleaded guilty to one count of arson after she set alight a woman’s newly bought Toyota Corolla in an act of revenge against the woman’s family in July last year.

Crown prosecutor Kurt Macdonald told the court Mothe and the woman she was with captured the moment she set the car on fire in a video on a phone later seized by police.

Mr Macdonald said the pair had been out drinking at Gilligan’s Resort into the morning of the arson attack.

“There had been some significant feuding between the complainant’s family and Ms Mothe,” he said.

“The complainant was staying at the family’s house and her car was parked out the front.

“That car was worth $35,000.”

Mr Macdonald said about 2.30am on July 13, 2024, the pair stopped at a fuel station in Edmonton and purchased a jerry can of petrol and walked to the residence where the car was parked.

Latoya Shamaya Ann Mothe, now 20, pleaded guilty to one count of arson after she set alight a woman’s newly bought Toyota Corolla in an act of revenge against the woman’s family in July last year.

“The two of them crouched behind the car and Ms Mothe removed her underwear and soaked it in fuel before walking to the car and setting it alight.”

Mr Macdonald played the footage to the court, with the pair heard giggling during the act.

“The owner of the vehicle was woken by a family member shortly after and the fire had grown a significant amount,” he said.

He said the car was left “melted and burnt out”.

“It was completely destroyed beyond repair,” he said.

Mr Macdonald said the pair enacted their “vigilantism” with determination and “had plenty of time to cool off” while travelling to the location.

Defence counsel John Seccull did not contest the fact presented to the court, saying the offending could be characterised as an act of revenge in an “episode of vigilantism”.

He said there were strong mitigating factors behind Mothe’s actions that night.

He said that she suffered from PTSD due to acts of abuse perpetrated against her as a child and acted out of a sense of injustice after comments on social media targeted her and her brothers.

Mr Seccull said Mothe had made strong efforts to turn her life around and was working well with new support structures in place to address her PTSD.

Judge Dean Morzone KC said that while the act was “not impulsive”, there were strong mitigating factors behind the offending, including abuse enacted against herself and her family.

“It is within the context of conflict between families involving abhorrent abuse and I accept that you were intoxicated,” he said.

He further referenced the murder of Mothe’s cousin and the resulting trial which was occurring around the time of the arson as contributing factors to her turbulent circumstances.

Citing the factors of mitigation and the young woman’s steps towards rehabilitation, Judge Morzone sentenced Mothe to three years’ imprisonment but released her immediately on parole.

Originally published as Latoya Shamaya Ann Mothe, 20, sentenced for car-destroying act of revenge arson