Crime

‘I snapped’: North Adams man accused of murdering parents, arson

Crews responded to a fire, where two elderly people were found dead. Their son confessed to assaulting them and setting the house ablaze.

November 25, 2025

2 minutes to read

The son of the couple found dead after a North Adams house fire Monday was arrested and charged with arson and murder, local officials said.

Darius Hazard, 44, was charged with one count of arson in connection to the Monday fire at a single-family home at 77 Francis Street, where he lived with his parents, the Berkshire District Attorney’s Office said. He pleaded not guilty in Northern Berkshire District Court Tuesday afternoon, according to court records.

Darius Hazard, 44. *Berkshire DA’s Office.*

Hazard will be arraigned Wednesday on two counts of murder of his parents Venture Hazard, 76, and Donald Hazard, 83.

Hazard confessed Monday afternoon to physically assaulting his parents inside the home before pouring gasoline on the first floor and setting the house on fire between 3 and 4 a.m., the DA alleged.

The crews with the North Adams Fire Department responded to Francis Street around 7:10 a.m. Monday, where firefighters saw smoke coming from the home and an officer “noted immense heat,” the DA said.

Crews “immediately” entered the home through the basement, and firefighters found two people, later identified as Venture and Donald, dead inside the house. The couple died of smoke inhalation, the DA said Tuesday, and no one else was at the home.

Investigators learned that Hazard also lived in the house but was not at the scene. His car was missing, and the spot in the driveway where Hazard normally parked was dry after a rainstorm, meaning he allegedly was at the house “somewhat recently,” the DA alleged.

After Hazard did not arrive at his shift at Stop & Shop at 10 a.m. after the fire, which colleague said was “extremely unusual,” police saw his vehicle driving on Route 7, the DA said. Hazard pulled into a Walmart parking lot, where investigators said law enforcement took him into custody without incident.

‘I guess I snapped’

According to court documents, Sergeant Matthew Mozzi approached Hazard’s vehicle at the Walmart and asked him if he was aware of what was going on and if Hazard was doing okay.

“Truthfully, no,” Hazard allegedly said, per the documents. “I guess I snapped.”

Hazard allegedly confessed to investigators, telling police that he “got really, really angry and shoved both (of his parents) to the floor” and “hit them a couple of times” before getting the gasoline and lighting a match, the court documents said. Venture had mobility issues for the past few years.

He told police he was “furious” for having to take care of his mother, who had developed scoliosis and advanced arthritis. He was frustrated she was not getting better, court documents said.

Hazard also stabbed himself “because he could not live with himself for doing this,” according to court documents. He was transported to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield in the custody of North Adams police, the report said.

Berkshire DA Timothy Shugrue said his thoughts are with the family and the wider community “during this extraordinarily challenging time.”

“I’d first like to recognize the tremendous courage of the North Adams firefighters as they entered the house without hesitation in hopes of recovering the residents inside,” Shugrue said in a statement. “Responding to this type of situation is harrowing and has lasting impacts on first responders. I am thankful for their dedication to this difficult work.”

Hazard was committed to the Berkshire County House of Correction without bail pending a dangerousness hearing. The Committee for Public Counsel Services’ Pittsfield Office, which is representing him, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.