A Baltimore man has been charged for allegedly trying to set an Elkridge home on fire after breaking in and killing the person living there.
It all happened around 10:30am Friday in the 6000 block of Old Washington Road.
Howard County Police say 64-year-old James Sents Jr. lived at the location.
Dennis Lee Graham, 38, is accused of breaking-in the home and assaulting Sents, leaving him for dead.
RELATED: Police discover man's body after responding to home invasion in Elkridge
As officers arrived on scene, they encountered Graham inside the house and noticed blood and smoke coming from an upstairs bedroom.
Inside the bedroom closet Sents' body was discovered. A small fire had been lit in the bedroom, which crews were able to extinguish.
Charging documents reveal a terrifying chain of events that took place leading up to the murder.
Sents apparently first called 911 himself to report that a man had broke into his home and tied him up, before taking his wallet and driving off in his car.
While speaking with the dispatcher, Sents is heard saying his attacker returned and fears he's going to be killed. Sents said on the recorded line that he'd met the suspect in the past, but "doesn't know him."
A struggle could then be heard over the phone.
Police showed up minutes later to hear banging coming from inside the home.
All the while dispatchers were still on the line with nothing but background noise on the other side. That was until another man, who identified himself as "Mario Hawkins," got on the phone.
He lied and told the 911 operator that Sents had dementia and left the home.
Officers eventually made contact with "Hawkins," real name Dennis Lee Graham, through a window.
Graham refused to let police inside the home, falsely claiming to be waiting for Sents' caretaker.
Ultimately police forced their way inside, at which point Graham barricaded himself in the bedroom.
Officers noticed traces of blood and smoke coming from that direction.
Shortly after Graham emerged from the bedroom onto a rooftop porch, telling police that a man was inside the closet.
Police provided Graham a ladder for him to come down and surrender.
Inside the room closet was Sents, bloodied and battered.
A woman, believed to be Graham's girlfriend was also found inside the home.
During an interview with police, Graham admitted to taking Sents' car and driving it to Baltimore City to pickup his girlfriend.
The two then returned to Sents' home in Elkridge, where he later confessed to speaking with a 911 dispatcher and telling them that Sents had dementia.
According to Graham's girlfriend, she could hear a man "yelping" upstairs and soon noticed Sents on the floor bleeding.
She told police that Graham had said the two got into a fight. Graham was later seen by his girlfriend throwing a knife, wallet, and pair of keys onto the bathroom sink.
Graham is currently being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center.
Detectives are still searching for a motive in the case, in addition to determining a connection between Graham and Sents.
