VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County deputies have charged a second man in connection to an explosion at a home in Deltona.
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On June 24, emergency crews responded to reports of an explosion and fire at the home on Covington Drive.
Investigators quickly determined someone had thrown an explosive device through a front bedroom window. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
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Investigators interviewed the victim who reported that she and the rest of the family had been arguing with her son, identified as 25-year-old Christopher Cruz-Ayala.
According to the sheriff’s office, the family had found evidence of a relationship between Cruz-Ayala and a girlfriend of the victim’s other son who was incarcerated in Seminole County at the time.
Investigators say they also spoke to neighbors who witnessed the fire and reported seeing a man driving a silver Mercedes run up to the home and throw something through the window.
Deputies later identified that man as 25-year-old Jason Smith, a friend of Cruz-Ayala’s.
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Investigators say a license plate reader captured Smith’s Mercedes entering the City of Deltona moments before the explosion.
Cell phone data also placed Smith in the area of the explosion, and at Cruz-Ayala’s apartment in Winter Park shortly before it happened.
When questioned about the incident, Smith initially denied having any knowledge of what happened.
However, a search of the Mercedes yielded evidence linking Smith to the crime, including a cork matching the broken pieces of a Don Julio Tequila bottle found in the victim’s home after the fire was extinguished. They also collected a lighter from the back seat.
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Smith was arrested on July 11 and charged with arson and possession of a fire bomb. He’s been in the Volusia County jail since then on a total of $200,000 bond.
Investigators spent the following weeks using cell phone data, video surveillance, and witness information to gather the information needed to obtain a warrant for Cruz-Ayala on the same charges.
Cruz-Ayala has been in the Orange County Jail since July 26 on drug trafficking charges and will be served with the warrant there. He’s being held on more than $1 million bond.
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