Deputies say the woman escaped to a neighbor’s house after her phone was destroyed.

JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. — A Washington County man is accused of pouring gasoline on his mother and her home April 9 as she tried to remove him from the residence, then setting a fire that left her burned and the house engulfed.

Dustin Tayler Machen, 32, faces attempted first-degree murder, attempted especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated arson, aggravated burglary and interference with a 911 call. The case has moved from the scene of a destroyed home on South Pickens Bridge Road to court, where prosecutors asked for a mental evaluation before a preliminary hearing could go forward.

The woman, whose name has not been released by authorities, survived because she got out of the home and reached a neighbor’s house to call 911, investigators said. Washington County Sheriff Keith Sexton said the violence began after a family dispute over Machen being forced out of the home. “She was in the process of evicting her son, Dustin Machen,” Sexton said. He said Machen left the residence, returned with gasoline, poured it on the woman and the home, and set the fire as she tried to leave. Deputies were sent to the home the morning of April 9 for a report that a person and a house had been set on fire. By the time they arrived, officials said, the house was fully engulfed in flames.

Investigators said the woman told deputies that Machen threw gasoline on her and the residence as she attempted to escape. Authorities said he also destroyed her cellphone to keep her from calling 911. The woman suffered burns to her arms and was taken first to a local hospital, with later reports saying she was flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for treatment. Officials have not released a full medical update, and the extent of any long-term injury remained unclear. The house, located on South Pickens Bridge Road in the Johnson City area of Washington County, was described in local reports as destroyed by the fire. Authorities have not publicly said whether the woman owned the property, whether formal eviction paperwork had been filed or how long Machen had been living there before the dispute.

The case widened soon after the fire when deputies began searching the area around the home. Sexton said officers used a drone and found a backpack containing personal items and other belongings. Machen was located nearby, in a field, where the sheriff said he was watching the fire. Deputies took him into custody and booked him into the Washington County Detention Center. The arrest turned a domestic dispute into a major felony case with charges that accuse Machen not only of setting a fire, but of trying to kill and restrain the victim and of trying to block an emergency call. Prosecutors later described the allegations as extremely serious while arguing for a high bond. A judge set Machen’s bond at $2 million during an initial court appearance.

Authorities have also pointed to earlier conflict between Machen and his mother. Sexton told local reporters that Machen had previous domestic violence charges connected to her. In court coverage after the arrest, prosecutors referred to past allegations involving the same house, including an aggravated assault case. One report said an assistant district attorney stated Machen had been found not guilty by reason of insanity in a previous domestic violence matter. Those earlier cases are part of the background now surrounding the new charges, but they are separate from the April 9 allegations. The new case centers on the gasoline, the fire, the destroyed phone and the woman’s escape to a neighbor. Machen is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.

The first scheduled preliminary hearing did not proceed as planned. Machen appeared in Washington County court April 23, but the state requested a postponement so he could undergo a mental evaluation. A preliminary hearing is the stage where a judge can decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to send felony charges forward. The request for an evaluation means the court must first address questions about Machen’s mental condition before the case advances in the usual way. Court officials had not publicly released a final outcome of that evaluation as of May 4. It also remained unclear from public reports whether Machen had hired or been appointed an attorney who could comment on the allegations.

The fire drew attention in Washington County because of the way the woman was cut off from help before finding another route to survive. Investigators said she could not use her own phone after it was destroyed. Her escape to a neighbor became the key break that brought deputies and firefighters to the scene. The report also placed several parts of the case in a small area: the burning home, the nearby neighbor’s house where 911 was called, the field where Machen was found and the backpack located by drone. Those details are expected to matter as prosecutors lay out the timeline and defense attorneys test what can be proved.

The case now rests on the mental evaluation request and the postponed preliminary hearing. Machen remains charged with five felonies tied to the April 9 fire, while investigators and prosecutors continue to build the record around the woman’s escape, the alleged gasoline attack and the destroyed home.

Author note: Last updated May 4, 2026.