Mother charged in Halloween fire that killed son

A staff report

A Tabor City mother has been charged with setting a fire that killed her 17-month-old son, Columbus County law enforcement said Wednesday.

Terri Hinson, 32, was charged with first-degree arson and first-degree murder, a Columbus County Sheriff's spokesman said.
State Bureau of Investigations agents arrested Hinson Wednesday afternoon. SBI agents would not comment on the case
Wednesday evening.

After the Oct. 20 fire, Hinson told police she was sleeping on a downstairs couch at her 101 N. Wall Street home when cries
from one of her children awakened her. She told Tabor City police that fire exploded out of a closet when she entered the
room where her son, Joshua, lay sleeping in his crib.

Hinson turned back, ran downstairs, and grabbed the phone on her way out the door, she told police. Firefighters found Joshua dead in his crib.

His 4-year-old sister, Brittany, was found lying face down on the floor in her bedroom, trying to avoid the flames and smoke.
She was taken to a Charleston, S.C., hospital, and recovered.

The next day, Tabor City police said the fire had been intentionally set.

"The fire started in a pile of clothes in the closet. There was nothing else there. And it wasn't spontaneous combustion," Chief
R.V. Wooster said.

Columbus County District Attorney Rex Gore said the charges will be handled as a capital case.

Hinson is jailed without bond in the Columbus County Detention Center in Whiteville. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance tomorrow.