Homeless dispute leads to arson, homicide

A 57-year-old homeless man who authorities say had an ongoing dispute with a 27-year-old has been charged with killing the man after setting ablaze the home he was squatting in.

Don Lyle Leach, was arrested Tuesday after detectives reviewing the evidence – including an eyewitness account – linked him to the suspicious fire at a boarded up home on Garden Street near a Sunoco gas station in Titusville.

Leach was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and arson.

The victim, whose body was found by Titusville Fire Department firefighters as they cleared the charred remains of the house, was identified as 27-year-old Jeremy Pileggi of Titusville.

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday and found flames shooting through the roof of the abandoned property which had its windows boarded up.

"This was a vacant home and it was boarded up without power," said Battalion Chief Scott Gaenicke of the Titusville Fire Department.

Police now say the victim, described as homeless, was likely sleeping in the house when Leach used an unidentified substance to set the porch on fire.

Pileggi was trapped in the boarded up home as the fire quickly spread throughout its frame, authorities said.

Police said that Leach was upset with Pileggi over ongoing disputes between the two. They also said that an eyewitness spotted Leach running from the scene of the fire moments after it was started.

An autopsy determined in preliminary findings that Pileggi died as result of the fire.

Leach was booked into the Brevard County Jail Complex and will go before a judge today for a first appearance.

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642, jdgallop@floridatoday.com or on Twitter at @JDGallop