LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, September 27, 2024, a Charles County jury, after a 10-day trial, convicted Vincent Anthony Fisher, II, 49, of two counts of First-Degree Arson and two counts of Second-Degree Murder of Rashawn Cline and Dashawn Cline.
On March 31, 2022, officers and fire department personnel responded to a townhome in Waldorf for the report of a residential house fire. Upon arrival, the home was fully engulfed in flames. Fisher was located outside of the residence and was suffering from injuries from an assault that took place before the fire. After extinguishing the fire, fire department personnel located two deceased victims, later identified as 27-year-old Rashawn Cline and her eighteen-month-old daughter, Dashawn Cline, in an upstairs bedroom.
An investigation revealed that Fisher, who lived at the residence, was involved in a physical altercation with two other males, one being another resident of the house, before the fire started. The altercation began inside the residence but continued outside after Fisher jumped out of his second-story window. When the altercation was over, Fisher remained at the house with the victims while the other males left. Soon after the males left, Fisher intentionally started a fire on a mattress located in the living room of the residence before going outside. The fire extended to the remaining rooms of the first floor and upstairs to the second floor, where the victims were located. The fire completely destroyed the residence.
Video footage from a neighbor’s house captured Fisher walking toward the home before the fire started.
Two lighters were discovered in Fisher’s pants when he was apprehended. During the course of the investigation, it was also found that Fisher had Phencyclidine (PCP) in his system during the incident.
Before the incident, Fisher was told by another resident that he could no longer live at the townhome due to his drug use. Fisher started the fire on the last night he could stay at the residence.
A sentencing date for Fisher has been set for December 19, 2024. He faces up to 140 years in prison.
