Man Who Set Fire To IE Church, Preschool Sentenced To Over 4 Years In Prison

YUCAIPA, CA — A New Mexico man was sentenced Monday to four years and three months in prison for setting fire to a church and preschool with over 60 people inside last year in Yucaipa, according to authorities.

Jonathan A. Barajas Nava, 37, of Albuquerque, was also ordered to pay $7,008 in restitution, authorities said. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of damage to a religious property, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Nava admitted in the plea agreement that he set fire to the church because of its religious character, authorities said, with prosecutors describing the arson in a sentencing memorandum as “planned and targeted.”

On April 24, 2024, Nava bought a gas can, filled it with gasoline, and traveled to Retreat Church and Yucaipa Christian Preschool, where he poured the liquid on the church’s front door and set the fire, authorities said.

There were 48 preschoolers and 14 staff members inside the preschool at the time, but no one was injured, although the blaze did damage the church’s interior carpet, doorfame seal and outdoor mat, according to the department.

Nava then went to a nearby strip mall and set fire to an exterior wall, which did not cause any damage, before he was arrested later that day, authorities said.

Nava has a history with fire. He pleaded guilty in a 2022 Albuquerque case in which he crashed into multiple police cars and tried to burn a gas pump, the Albuquerque Journal previously reported.