Drugs, abuse fueled alleged arsonist, family says

One day after Monique Riley allegedly torched her ex-beau's rowhouse and ignited a blaze that damaged eight others, Riley's relatives sprang to her defense, saying desperation - and maybe drugs - drove her to pyromania.

"It seems like she's the demon, but there's two sides to every story," her sister Dyanne Riley said yesterday morning.

Monique Riley, 32, was charged with aggravated assault, arson and related offenses after she allegedly doused Ouris Alston Jr.'s East Germantown home with gasoline and set it ablaze Thursday. The predawn fire on Furley Street near Wister gutted three houses, damaged six others and left dozens of neighbors infuriated.

Although no residents were injured, Monique Riley suffered such severe burns on her leg and hands that her leg was "still sizzling," its skin peeling off, when she arrived at a friend's house after fleeing Furley Street, her sister said. She was being treated in Temple University Hospital's burn unit, under police guard.

Yesterday, Monique Riley's family blamed years of domestic abuse as the trigger that turned her into an alleged arsonist. She also battles drug addiction, prompting her relatives to speculate whether drugs had fueled the felonious ambush.

"Women love harder than men," Dyanne Riley said. "When a woman is hurt, they need something to satisfy their soul. This was the wrong way to go about it. But she had emotions built up."

But as Furley Street residents continued to clean up from the blaze yesterday, few had any sympathy for Monique Riley.

"If she's so abused, how come she keeps coming back 'round all the time?" said neighbor William Davis, 45, whose home incurred smoke damage. "Ouris ain't the best person in the world either, but he ain't tried to burn us up. I don't want to hear that dumb old stuff."