MLK nephew hospitalized after alleged arson

<p>A nephew of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is expected to face arson charges for allegedly setting fire to his apartment in what police called an apparent suicide attempt.</p><p>Derek King, 46, sought mental health counseling after Tuesday's blaze, said Bob Bowser, deputy chief of the Lawrence Police Department.</p><p>Bowser said King endangered the lives of himself and others when he allegedly set the fire in his apartment, and then refused to leave when rescuers arrived.</p><p>"It could have been a tragedy," Bowser said.</p><p>He said King, who's the associate pastor at Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, is expected to be charged with arson in Marion County next Tuesday.</p><p>Arson investigators determined that the fire was intentionally set. Bowser said King not only initially resisted bystanders' efforts to remove him from the burning apartment, but after he finally exited the apartment he then ran back into the burning building before being removed.</p><p>King declined comment to The Indianapolis Star when the newspaper contacted him Friday. There is no published telephone listing for King in the Indianapolis area.</p><p>Rev. Thomas L. Brown, the pastor at Ebenezer Missionary, said he believed the fire was an accident and the alleged suicide attempt a misunderstanding.</p><p>"I say it's totally accidental," Brown said.</p><p>Bowser credited Sgt. Tonya Tilson and witnesses Kirby Cheshier and Attila Robinson for helping rescue about six residents from the building.</p>

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