State v. Vincent Anthony Fisher, II, C-08-CR-22-000544
LA PLATA, MD—Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Thursday, December 19, 2024, Charles County Circuit Court Judge H. James West sentenced Vincent Anthony Fisher, II, 49, to 104 years in prison for two counts of First-Degree Arson and the Second-Degree Murders of Rashawn Cline and Dashawn Cline.
Fisher was found guilty of the aforementioned charges by a Charles County jury on September 27, 2024.
On March 31, 2022, officers and fire department personnel responded to a townhome in Waldorf for the report of a residential house fire. Upon arrival, the home was fully engulfed in flames. Fisher was located outside of the residence with injuries from an assault that took place before the fire. After extinguishing the fire, fire department personnel located two deceased victims, later identified as 27-year-old Rashawn Cline and her eighteen-month-old daughter, Dashawn Cline, in an upstairs bedroom.
An investigation revealed that Fisher, who lived at the residence, was involved in a physical altercation with two other males, one being another resident of the house, before the fire started. The altercation began inside the residence but continued outside after Fisher jumped out of his second-story window. When the altercation was over, Fisher remained at the house with the victims while the other males left. Soon after the males left, Fisher intentionally started a fire on a mattress located in the living room of the residence before going outside. The fire extended to the remaining rooms of the first floor and upstairs to the second floor, where the victims were located. The fire completely destroyed the residence.
Video footage from a neighbor’s house captured Fisher walking toward the home before the fire started.
Two lighters were discovered in Fisher’s pants when he was apprehended. During the course of the investigation, it was also found that Fisher had Phencyclidine (PCP) in his system during the incident.
Before the incident, Fisher was told by another resident that he could no longer live at the townhome due to his drug use. Fisher started the fire on the last night he could stay at the residence.
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.” Speaking of the arson, he stated, “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. There is no worse First-Degree Arson than one that results in the death of two people and the complete loss of the structure.”
Before sentencing Fisher to 104 years in prison, the Honorable Judge West stated, “The level of chaos created that night, extremely high, off the charts. – It seems to me that in some respects the defendant preyed upon the kindness of a family. He was being put out and he should’ve just left. 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.”
Sentence
Count 1
• Second-Degree Murder of Rashawn Cline
• 32 years
Count 2
• Second-Degree Murder of Dashawn Cline
• 32 years
• Consecutive
Count 3
• First-Degree Arson (of victims’ residence)
• 25 years
• Consecutive
Count 4
• First-Degree Arson (of neighboring house)
• 15 years
• Consecutive