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Vincent Anthony Fisher, II, 49, was convicted in September following a near two-week trial for his role in a fatal incident in March 2022 that resulted in the deaths of Rashawn Cline and Dashawn Cline.
On Monday, Dec. 23, authorities announced that Fisher has been sentenced to 104 years in prison.
During sentencing, Assistant State’s Attorney Jonathan Beattie told the judge, “There is an old adage that no parent should have to bury their child, but this is worse than that.”
First responders in Charles County were called on March 31, 2022, to a townhome in Waldorf that was fully engulfed in flames with Fisher outside suffering from injuries that took place from an assault that happened before the fire.
Crews were able to extinguish the fire, where they found the 27-year-old Rashawn Cline and her 18-month-old daughter, Dashawn Cline, in an upstairs bedroom.
Prosecutors say that Fisher, who lived at the home, got into an altercation with two other men - one of whom lived there - before the fire started.
The incident began inside the townhome but continued outside after Fisher jumped out of his second-story window. When the fight was over, Fisher remained at the house with the victims while the other men left.
Soon after that, Fisher intentionally started a fire on a mattress in the living room and went outside. The fire then extended to the rest of the residence, which was deemed a complete loss.
Investigators made note that video footage from a neighbor’s house captured Fisher walking toward the home before the fire started. He was also caught with two lighters when he was arrested, and there was PCP in his system.
Witnesses said that Fisher was told by another resident that he could no longer live at the townhome due to his drug use, and he started the fire on the last night he could stay at the residence.
Speaking of the arson, Beattie added, “Whenever one takes those types of actions, the consequences that can flow from that can be unimaginable. – It’s selfish, pointless, and, unfortunately, the results are unimaginable.”
He also stated that “we’ll never know who (the 18-month-old victim) would’ve become. The reason we will never know is because of the actions of Mr. Fisher."
Fisher was convicted following a 10-day trial of two counts each of first-degree arson and second-degree murder.
Before he was sentenced to more than a decade in prison, the judge aded that "the level of chaos created that night, extremely high, off the charts. – It seems to me that in some respects (Fisher) preyed upon the kindness of a family.
"He was being put out and he should’ve just left," he continued. "This is one of the most serious cases I can imagine. Beautiful child, beautiful family. Gone. The level of loss, you can’t describe it.”
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