The judge ruled that 31-year-old Mahogany Massey poses a danger to the community.
Investigators say Massey maliciously set fire to the University Ridge Apartments, where her mother lived. The blaze displaced 18 residents and sent several people to the hospital. Massey's father, Daron Massey, told ABC11 his daughter has struggled with severe mental illness for years and becomes unstable when she stops taking her medication.
"She's bipolar schizophrenic. She's paranoid schizophrenic. She sees stuff. She hears stuff," he said.
He said his daughter had been off her medication for two months before the fire.
"I couldn't make her take the medication. I couldn't force her to take the medication," he said. "I'd have her involuntarily committed and they would release her."
Massey's father believes she still doesn't fully understand what happened. He said her mother spotted her outside the building while being carried out on a stretcher.
"Any normal person would say, 'That's my mom. She's getting in an ambulance. Let me run over and see what's wrong,'" he said. "She sat on the wall, looked at her, smoked a cigarette and drank a beer.
Didn't run or move. Just watched what was going on like everybody else."
Court documents show several people were injured, including three Durham firefighters, Massey's mother and her brother.
"Her mother is still hospitalized with severe smoke inhalation," a prosecutor said. "The brother went back in to save their mother and glass from the heat exploded, hit his arm and severed his artery. He almost bled out."
During her first court appearance, Massey repeatedly interrupted the hearing, prompting the judge to continue the proceedings without her present. Prosecutors argued she should remain in custody without bond, saying investigators found what they described as a "people to kill" list among her belongings.
Her defense attorney countered that Massey needs mental health treatment, not jail time.
"The nervous system is not regulated the way it should be. All logic goes away," said Blaise Harris, a licensed clinical mental health counselor who spoke generally about untreated mental illness and not this specific case.
Harris said untreated mental illness can escalate into dangerous behavior and stressed the importance of families seeking help early.
"A lot of people want to keep it hidden," he said. "They don't want to embarrass the family. They don't want to bring any shame. A lot of times, they keep it in-house instead of getting people the help they need. Sometimes it's talking to a therapist. Sometimes it's talking to a pastor."
No deaths were reported in the fire. Massey remains in the Durham County jail without bond.
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