Man accused of setting fire to southwest Missouri church

NEVADA, Mo. — An El Dorado Springs man remains hospitalized and charged with setting a Nevada church on fire.

Keith Caylor, 58, is accused of breaking into the First Christian Church at Washington and Austin Streets early Saturday morning and then setting the church on fire .

According to court records, Caylor called 911 and told dispatchers that “people” were trying to set him on fire and kill him. Police said when they arrived on the scene, they found Caylor outside of the church, bleeding from his hands with his shirt covered in blood. They said it appeared that Caylor broke a window to get into the church and then set fires in two locations inside the building.

Prosecutors charged Caylor with arson, burglary, and property damage. He is in a Kansas City hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Nevada Police Chief, Casey Crain, says when Caylor is released from the hospital, he will be taken into custody in Kansas City and transported to Vernon County to face the charges.

Oddly enough, Saturday was also Caylor’s birthday.

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