Deputies said they learned nine days later that a burn patient accused in the fatal arson had left Eskenazi Hospital.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A triple-fatal arson case in Monroe County took a second turn when authorities said the injured suspect left an Indianapolis hospital without the notice deputies expected before his arrest.
Braydon Richard Blake, 28, is accused of setting a Jan. 18 fire at his East Anderson Road home, killing Mary Blake, 74, Kristine Rowan, 33, and Paula Anderson, 53. He suffered serious burns in the same fire and spent weeks in hospital care. The sheriff’s office said deputies were stationed at Eskenazi Hospital for about a month, then withdrew after an agreement that the hospital would notify them when Blake was released. Deputies said that notice never came.
The hospital issue became public after Blake’s April 10 arrest in Avon. Monroe County officials said Blake had been released from Eskenazi on April 1, but the sheriff’s office did not learn he was gone until April 9. The next day, U.S. marshals, Indiana State Police and Monroe County deputies found him in the Indianapolis suburb. He was booked into the Monroe County Jail at 5:39 p.m. April 10. Eskenazi declined public comment to an Indianapolis television station. The sheriff’s office has said the release did not stop the investigation, but it created a nine-day gap between discharge and arrest.
The reason Blake was at Eskenazi began with the early-morning fire in the 3800 block of East Anderson Road, near Bloomington. At about 2:40 a.m. Jan. 18, dispatchers received several calls reporting a burning home with people trapped inside. Deputies arrived with fire crews and saw a vehicle crashed into the attached garage. Flames were already active. The vehicle was later described in court records as a black Ford Edge registered to Blake. Firefighters and deputies had to respond to a rescue scene and a criminal scene at the same time.
Inside and around the house, first responders found a household in crisis. Gabriella Anderson, 18, had escaped with serious burns. Paula Anderson, her mother, also escaped or was removed from the scene with catastrophic burn injuries and later died Feb. 4. Firefighters found Mary Blake and Rowan inside the home. Rowan was pronounced dead at the scene. Mary Blake was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital and died. Officials said Mary Blake and Rowan died from thermal injuries and inhalation of products of combustion. Their deaths were ruled homicides. Anderson’s death led prosecutors to expand the case after her weeks of treatment ended.
The probable cause affidavit described by local outlets says a 911 call captured a woman in distress saying someone was pouring gasoline around the home and using the words “kill me.” Another woman got on the line and told dispatch the house was on fire, saying one victim identified Braydon Blake. A victim with severe burns later told EMS workers that “Blake” poured gasoline on them and lit them on fire, according to the affidavit. Investigators said they found a plastic can near the dining area with liquid that smelled like gasoline and another gasoline odor near a recliner in the living room.
The affidavit also says one victim told investigators Blake threatened to burn down the house if she did not have sex with him and reported being sexually assaulted. News accounts have said investigators were looking at whether a rape allegation was tied to the motive. Officials have not publicly released a full motive, and the public court descriptions do not show a separate sexual assault charge announced alongside the murder and arson counts. The allegation remains part of the case narrative that investigators used to support the arrest. Blake has not been convicted, and each allegation must be proven in court.
After the fire was knocked down enough for the search to continue, deputies turned to the wooded property behind the home. Reports citing the affidavit say officers used a tracking dog and drone and found Blake about 250 yards from the house with significant burn injuries. Witnesses identified him as the suspected arsonist, according to the sheriff’s office. He was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, then moved to Eskenazi Hospital, which handles burn care in Indianapolis. From there, the case entered a long period in which the suspect was also a patient, and deputies had to account for medical limits while pursuing an arrest.
The sheriff’s office said personnel remained at the hospital for roughly one month to provide security, then were barred from being in or around Blake’s room and moved to a place where they could no longer keep eyes on him. Officials said the agency and hospital then reached an agreement that the sheriff’s office would be notified when Blake was released. When deputies later learned he had left, they called on state and federal help. The case drew attention not only because of the deaths, but because a person wanted in a homicide and arson case had been out of custody for days.
The arrest brought Blake before a Monroe County judge on April 13. Prosecutors filed to amend the case to three counts of murder, three counts of felony murder and one count of arson resulting in serious bodily injury. They also moved to seek life without parole. The judge ordered Blake held without bond and appointed a state-paid attorney. His next hearing is scheduled for May 20, with a jury trial tentatively listed for Sept. 26. The amended charges reflected all three deaths, including Anderson’s death on Feb. 4, and the serious injuries to Gabriella Anderson.
The victims were linked by family and care. Mary Blake was Braydon Blake’s grandmother. Paula Anderson was a certified nursing assistant who cared for Mary Blake and for Rowan, Anderson’s daughter, who lived with cerebral palsy and was bedridden, according to relatives. Gabriella Anderson, Paula Anderson’s younger daughter, survived the fire with serious burns. Lindsey Pesonen, Anderson’s sister, wrote that the fire took Mary Blake and Kristine Rowan and left the family with everything they owned reduced to ashes. Her family description also said Rowan’s disability made her unable to leave the home on her own.
Local reports have also reviewed Blake’s history in Monroe County courts. He had a 2018 burglary case, a drug court placement, later violations and a return to prison. In 2022, he was placed in re-entry court, a program designed to help people after incarceration, but he was terminated from the program in 2023 and sent back to prison to complete the sentence. State records cited in local reports said he was released in summer 2024. Those prior cases are separate from the arson case, but prosecutors may use records and timelines to establish where Blake was living and how he came to be at the house.
The fire investigation remains active, according to officials. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office, Monroe County Fire Protection District, Monroe County Coroner’s Office, Bloomington police and Indiana State Police have all been connected to the case. The U.S. Marshals Service helped with the arrest after the hospital release. As the court case moves forward, the hospital release question may remain outside the jury’s main task but inside public scrutiny of how injured suspects are monitored.
The next scheduled court date is May 20, followed by a tentative Sept. 26 jury trial if the case does not change course before then. Blake remained jailed without bond as of May 5.
Author note: Last updated May 5, 2026.