photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Natasha Neal is pictured on June 29, 2020, during a shutdown of Massachusetts Street near South Park. Activists blocked the street for several days in an effort to free Rontarus Washington Jr. from jail.

A felony arson charge against a young woman was dismissed Monday in Douglas County District Court after witnesses for the state failed to appear for the woman’s preliminary hearing.

Felony gun charges against the woman’s mother, Natasha Neal — related to the same incident on March 19, 2025 — were similarly dismissed last month when state witnesses declined to testify.

The daughter, Jayda Renae Kelly Neal, 20 when charged in July 2025, was set for a preliminary hearing on an arson and felony criminal damage charge. She was accused of threatening to burn down a residence on Haskell Avenue after an altercation with her then-boyfriend. In furtherance of that threat, a witness told police at the time, Jayda went into the dining area of the residence, turned on two stove-top burners, sprayed cooking oil all over the stove and floor, then kicked over a charcoal grill that was being used to cook food in the home, according to her arrest affidavit in the case.

No such witness appeared Monday to repeat that accusation, however. Natasha Neal had told the Journal-World that she had gone to the residence in response to the domestic dispute involving her daughter. The older Neal reportedly came and went several times before allegedly firing a gun into the home, which had children inside.

Neal has maintained her innocence, though, saying that she was falsely accused by law enforcement because of her involvement in the 2020 protest to free accused murderer Rontarus Washington Jr. from jail and because she was often at odds with the police and the DA’s Office as she aggressively investigated her 17-year-old son’s shooting death in June of 2024.

Police have said that they were not targeting the older Neal and had ample evidence of her guilt in the shooting incident, despite witnesses failing to testify against her.

The arson and criminal damage charges against the younger Neal were dismissed by Judge Amy Hanley Monday without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again.

The criminal damage charge against Jayda Neal was in relation to an incident in December 2024 at Astros Inc. in which she was accused of damaging a window at a cost of more than $1,000, the threshold for a felony charge. The person who could testify to the precise amount of damage did not appear Monday, however, leaving the state without evidence of a felony crime.

Prosecutor Adam Carey indicated he would pursue the matter as a misdemeanor charge. In that same case, the younger Neal was additionally charged with misdemeanor battery.

Neal’s mother also has multiple misdemeanor charges pending. Those charges, filed last summer, include two counts of criminal trespass, two counts of battery and one count of criminal damage to property. The offense date for all them is June 13, 2024, the day of her son’s murder.