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One of the four people charged in connection to a garage fire on Garfield Avenue in October filed a petition to plead guilty Wednesday in Freeborn County District Court as part of a plea agreement with the prosecution.

Under the agreement, Haily Marie Merrill, 28, will plead guilty to one count of second-degree arson. She initially faced one count of aiding and abetting first-degree arson. 

Albert Lea police and Albert Lea Fire Rescue were dispatched at 8:33 p.m. Oct. 6 for a reported fire in the front of a garage near Hawthorne Elementary School at 819 Garfield Ave. The structure fire was quickly contained and extinguished and did not cause damage to the home.  

According to the court complaint, Merrill told police she, Kolten Lee Wright, 19, and a juvenile were hanging out in the North Broadway parking lot when the juvenile talked about getting revenge on a person who lives at the house and burning his garage down. 

Wright reportedly told police Ashenfelter had taken the group to pick up lighter fluid from Wright’s house before they drove to the house on Garfield Avenue. Ashenfelter reportedly stayed in the vehicle while the other three went into the garage, Wright said.  

While they were there, Merrill was to be the lookout while Wright and the juvenile set the garage on fire. Wright noted he and the juvenile first tried to get inside the house but couldn’t get in.  

The juvenile allegedly took the lighter fluid from Wright and doused a cushion with lighter fluid, before Wright allegedly doused blankets. He then reportedly got his lighter out and lit a brown paper bag and put it down on the lighter fluid, and it caught fire. Wright reportedly said the juvenile ran out of the garage before he lit the fire.  

In addition to Merrill’s guilty plea to the amended charge, the agreement calls for Merrill to spend five years on supervised probation and 120 days in jail. 

She must have no contact with the other co-defendants in the case and agrees to testify in hearings and at the trials for the other co-defendants. 

She must also complete 200 hours of community service — 50 of which must be spent with Albert Lea Fire Rescue — and issue an apology to the firefighters after completing her service, as well as the victims. 

Wright and Ashenfelter were also slated to appear in court Wednesday for a motion hearing. 

The state has motioned to have all the cases joined during the trial because the cases involve the same evidence and witnesses. Doing so would keep all of the witnesses and the victims from having to testify separately in each of the trials.