YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum on Wednesday ordered that an evaluation be carried out on Will A. Jones, 59, to determine if he is not guilty by reason of insanity of the 14 counts of aggravated arson and other charges he faces.

At a hearing, Jones’ attorney, Gary Van Brocklin, said the reason he filed the not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity plea is that Jones made some statements to an investigator in the case “about the voices made him do it.”

Van Brocklin said,” At this point, I think he is capable of assisting in his defense,” so Van Brocklin was not asking that Jones be evaluated for his competency to stand trial, he said.

Krichbaum said he is ordering that the evaluation be completed and a report be submitted to the court within 30 days, though he said he is “realistic enough to recognize that there may be difficulty with that.”

Krichbaum mentioned that Van Brocklin also filed a motion objecting to “proof of repeat violent offender specification through use of a certified copy of a judgment entry.”

Krichbaum said it was premature for him to rule on that issue, which Van Brocklin acknowledged, but said he had to file “all of those as soon as possible.”

Jones was indicted at the end of December on 14 counts of aggravated arson and repeat-violent offender specifications. If he is convicted on those 14 charges, he could get more than 100 years in prison.

The fires were at homes on Oak Hill, Woodland and Willis avenues, all on Youngstown’s South Side. One of the homes he is accused of setting on fire is where he was living in a group home at the time.

Eight people were home when that fire was set. All made it out safely, though there were two minor injuries. At the home on Oak Hill Avenue, four members of a family were home. They escaped the 4:17 a.m. fire because one of the two children in the home was in the living room when it was set and woke up her father.

Two women were home on Woodland Avenue and both made it out. The Oak Hill and Woodland fires were Nov. 23. The Willis fire was Nov. 22. Jones is in the Mahoning County jail in lieu of a $450,000 bond.

The Willis fire was at 4:16 a.m. Nov. 22. One minor injury resulted. The next morning, at 4:17 a.m., Jones admitted to setting the fire of a family of five — four of whom were home — on Oak Hill Avenue not far north of the county’s Oakhill office building.

Luckily, a 7-year-old was awake in the living room and awoke her father to the flames on the front porch, and everyone got out safely. The porch and the rest of the house were destroyed.

“I guess it’s just the grace of God the way the events lined up,” Keith Logan told The Vindicator

The third residential fire took place a half a block east of the Oak Hill Avenue fire at 10:47 p.m. Nov. 23. Two women were home but escaped. The fire destroyed a garage behind the house and reached the back of the house.

Youngstown fire investigator Chris Hodge said Jones apparently had no other connection to Youngstown other than being sent there from prison. Hodge said Jones admitted to starting all three residential fires and multiple car fires.