Wife who set husband's clothes on fire over suspected affair gets jail, probation

A 35-year-old Aurora woman accused of setting her husband's clothes on fire and threatening him with a knife in May over a suspected affair has pleaded guilty and been released from jail.

Rosanda N. Taylor, of the 0-99 block of North Kendall Street, pleaded guilty Thursday to an amended charge of felony criminal damage to property.

Kane County Judge John Barsanti sentenced Taylor to 180 days in jail, two years of probation and ordered her to pay about $155,000 in restitution. The jail sentence was eligible to be cut in half to 90 days for good behavior and she was released from the Kane County jail Thursday after being held for 172 days.

Prosecutors dismissed the most severe charges against Taylor - two counts of aggravated arson that carried a minimum six-year prison term and a top punishment of 30 years - along with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

According to police, Taylor was arrested and charged with setting fire to her 37-year-old husband's clothes while a 5-month-old baby and 12-year-old were at their home on North Kendall.

Taylor's husband called police about 1 a.m. May 5, 2019, and reported Taylor was "destroying" the home while armed with a knife. When authorities arrived, they saw heavy smoke coming from a bedroom and called Aurora firefighters to put out the fire.

Taylor was arrested later that morning where she worked an overnight shift on the 2200 block of West Galena Boulevard in Aurora. Her husband sustained a small cut to his left hand during an argument with Taylor, during which she also was accused of holding a knife to his throat, according to police.

If Taylor violates her probation, she could be resentenced to up to seven years in prison, which is the maximum sentence for the criminal damage to property charge.