Man acquitted in case involving burglary, arson at Beaufort-area apartment
A Beaufort County jury acquitted a man accused of kicking in the door of his wife’s apartment and setting fire to her bed using a milk jug filled with gasoline.
Yemassee resident Lovora Simmons, 44, was found not guilty of second-degree arson and second-degree burglary Wednesday afternoon.
The verdict followed a two-day trial at the Beaufort County Courthouse where Simmons’ public defender, Philip Little Jr., characterized the case as a puzzle with too many missing pieces.
Little said prosecutors’ video evidence was incomplete and showed someone wearing different clothes than Simmons on the day of the crime. Despite the fact that police swabbed the milk jug for DNA, Little said, the sample was not tested “because they assumed and decided that Mr. Simmons did this crime.”
Prosecutors said Simmons had been living separately from his wife Nicole for months and was accusing her of cheating when he broke into her apartment the morning of Sept. 8, 2023 at the Legends North of Broad complex off S.C. 128 (Savannah Highway) in Port Royal town limits.
No one else was inside when Simmons poured gasoline throughout the apartment and set his wife’s bed ablaze, prosecutors said. He reportedly stole Nicole’s purse, journal and several “intimate items” before leaving the apartment.
The case’s prosecutor, Monica Main of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, showed video from the Circle K gas station down the road from the apartment complex. The footage showed Simmons buying gas at 7:50 a.m., she claimed, around 30 minutes before the fire alarm sounded in Nicole Simmons’ first-floor apartment.
“Look at the video from the Circle K. Look at the video from the apartment complex. Compare it for yourself — is that the same person? Do these pieces of the puzzle fit together?” Little asked the jury during his closing argument Wednesday morning. “I submit to you that they don’t, and that there are too many pieces missing.”
No injuries were reported from the fire, which was primarily extinguished by the apartment’s automatic sprinkler system, according to the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department. Prosecutors showed photos of minor charring from the blaze, including on Nicole Simmons’ bed.
Lovora Simmons was arrested Sept. 18, 2023, ten days after the incident. A few additional charges from that arrest, including stalking and aggravated breach of peace, were dismissed in March 2025.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 3:38 PM.
