Adoptive mother facing arson charges after allegedly trying to set teen on fire

(WHAS11) - Police say an adoptive mother is behind bars after allegedly trying to set one of her adopted kids on fire inside her home.

Linda Ellington is charged with arson after setting clothes on fire inside her adopted daughter's room. Now that young lady is speaking out.

Ellington is charged with first-degree arson and is being held in the Louisville Metro Detention Center under a $25,000 bond.

Watch this story

One of her adoptive children says she's lucky to be alive and she's blaming Kentucky Child Protective Services for not intervening sooner.

Ellington, 57, was called "Granny" by her five adoptive children.

She's charged with pouring alcohol on her 17-year-old adoptive daughter's clothes, then igniting them as the girl was in a bed nearby.

The victim jumped up and dialed 911. Ellington allegedly held her door shut.

“Everything was up in flames. You could smell smoke. I started coughing. I was on the phone with the lady from the 911 place. I kept on trying to get out. I had to set the phone down. I kept on trying to get out, but she would not let me out,” the teen, who we are not going to identify by name, told WHAS11.

Police and firefighters arrived, put out the blaze and took Ellington into custody.

But, her adoptive daughter says there were signs of trouble long before the fire.

Seven people lived in the Ellington's two bedroom home.

“There's three of us that live in one room, the youngest one is seven, he lives in the laundry room in a roll out bed and my brother sleeps in the sunroom,” added the teen.

Child Protective Services won't comment on the case, but did say it's customary to pay adoptive parents monthly allowances for each child.

That's why the daughter we spoke with believes the Ellingtons wanted so many children.

“We thought they were in it for the money because before they had got us, they didn't have two nice cars, they didn't have the sunroom, they didn't have anything,” she said.

WHAS11 News discovered that Linda and Johnny Ellington declared bankruptcy before becoming adoptive parents.

The daughter we interviewed says she was mentally and physically abused in the home, causing her to run away three times.

Once a child is adopted, Child Protective Services is no longer involved with that child. Before the child is adopted, an extensive screening and training program is undertaken by the state.

As far as subsidies go, a spokesperson for child protective services says payments run up to $690 per month for smaller children and up to $750 per month for teenagers.

The 17-year-old involved in this incident was unharmed and is now living with a different relative.