Federal prosecutors have charged a Florida man in the 2004 Rochester house fire that killed 8-year-old Savannah Streber, a year after state murder charges were thrown out.

The state case did not fall apart over the evidence. It fell apart over a 2005 tip that a judge found was not handled properly, which triggered Kuhn's speedy trial rights. Federal prosecutors are now using an interstate commerce arson law, which can reach a rental property, to get the case in front of a jury again. Expect the defense to argue this is the same case in a new courtroom. Savannah's family, who were at the jail when he walked out last year, finally gets another day in court.

Timothy Kuhn, 66, of Pensacola, Fla., has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a Feb. 28, 2004, house fire in Rochester, N.Y., that killed 8-year-old Savannah Streber, News10NBC (WHEC), Law&Crime and the Democrat and Chronicle reported. Kuhn is charged with arson of property used in interstate commerce resulting in death, and the indictment alleges he damaged and destroyed a rental property at 17 Yates Street by fire, News10NBC reported. He was arrested in Florida on Friday, Law&Crime reported, and was arraigned Monday afternoon, Oct. 19, 2026, in federal court in Florida, according to News10NBC. He will be returned to New York at a later date, the station reported.

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo of the Western District of New York said Kuhn would be extradited from Florida later, Law&Crime reported. Rochester ABC affiliate WHAM reported that Kuhn once had a romantic relationship with the woman who lived in the home, according to Law&Crime. She was at work the night of the fire, and her children were being watched by a babysitter who had brought along her 11-year-old son, Law&Crime reported. The babysitter's son was the first to notice the fire just after midnight. Everyone else got out, but Savannah was later found dead in her mother's bedroom, according to the outlet. Investigators determined the fire was set intentionally and started on the home's back porch, WHAM reported.

The case went cold for years until investigators followed up on new information in 2018, Law&Crime reported. In 2023, a Monroe County grand jury indicted Kuhn on charges of second-degree murder and arson. But as jury selection was about to begin last year, a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed the indictment, the outlets reported. News10NBC reported the judge ruled that a record-keeping issue in the original 2005 investigation violated Kuhn's constitutional rights. Local NPR station WXXI reported that a former cellmate of Kuhn's testified he had told Rochester police in 2005 that Kuhn confessed to setting the fire, according to Law&Crime. Monroe County District Attorney Brian Green said at the time that the late disclosure triggered Kuhn's speedy trial rights and that Judge Stephen Miller dismissed the indictment as a result, Law&Crime reported.

Kuhn was released from the Monroe County Jail after the state charges were dropped, and members of Savannah's family were there when he walked out, News10NBC reported. Her family announced his new arrest on a Facebook page dedicated to her memory, according to Law&Crime. Kuhn has not been convicted of any crime in connection with the fire. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.