High Point man charged after setting occupied home on fire
A High Point home fire with a woman and her children inside led to felony arson charges for Kendrick Baskins, 36, after investigators say he broke in first.
Kendrick Baskins, 36, was arrested June 25 and now faces felony first-degree arson after police say he broke into a High Point home and set it on fire with a woman and her children inside. Court documents place the fire on the 400 block of Evergreen Avenue and say the blaze happened May 20, leaving a family in immediate danger inside their own home.
The fire damaged furniture, bedding, clothes and other personal belongings, with losses listed at more than $200. Even though the dollar figure was relatively small, the setting made the case far more serious: bedding and clothing can help flames spread quickly through a residence, and the presence of children turned the fire into a direct threat to lives, not just property.
Baskins is being held on a $250,000 bond and faces felony burning personal property, felony first-degree arson, felony breaking and entering and misdemeanor injury to personal property. The charge list points to an allegation that the fire was not a random act of damage, but part of a break-in that ended with an occupied home set ablaze.
North Carolina court records can be searched through the clerk’s office or a public self-service terminal by defendant name, case number or victim or witness name, which means later filings could add more detail about the case. North Carolina victim-survivor guidance also says Marsy’s Law requires courts to consider the safety of victims and their families when setting bail and release conditions, a standard that often shapes no-contact orders in violent cases.
High Point has already seen the devastation that fire can bring to children. In January 2025, a duplex fire in the city killed a 17-month-old child, a reminder that even a single house fire can become fatal when families are trapped inside. In this case, the allegations against Baskins center on a home on Evergreen Avenue and a fire that, court records say, began after someone broke in and ignited it while a mother and her children were there.
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