School secretary charged with lighting fire on campus in attempt to avoid meeting about missing funds

A former secretary at an elementary school in Houston is accused of starting a fire on campus as a way to avoid a meeting about missing funds, Houston Public Media reports.

Adriana Castorena-Narvaez, 49, was charged with arson and a warrant was issued for her arrest. No one was injured in the fire, which took place in October. She is no longer employed by Houston ISD's Barrick Elementary School in North Houston.

"Barrick principal Yolanda Garrido told arson investigators she suspects Castorena-Narvaez started a fire Oct. 10 in a front-office conference room because Garrido was trying to talk to her about missing money, according to the probable cause affidavit," HPR's report stated. "Castorena-Narvaez was responsible for the school's finances and Garrido had been notified in September that scheduled payments to school vendors had not been made and cash collected from multiple school fundraisers this year had not been deposited into the school's account, court records show."

Barrick principal Yolanda Garrido said she first tried to address the issue of missing funds with Castorena-Narvaez on Sept. 16, but Castorena-Narvaez said she had a family emergency and went home. When another meeting was attempted on Oct. 6, Castorena-Narvaez claimed she had a medical emergency. When Castorena-Narvaez reported to work on Oct. 10, investigators determined a fire was intentionally started that morning in the conference room directly across from her office.

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“(Garrido) stated that she believes that (Castorena-Narvaez) is responsible for the missing cash and the fire,” reads the probable cause affidavit.

"If there was a fire in the front office before the defendant entered the front office, the fire would have caused substantially more damage than what was found when investigators conducted the initial fire investigation," reads the probable cause affidavit.