Woman Gets Life for Setting Fatal Apartment Fire

A woman who set a fire in her Chelsea apartment on Christmas Eve five years ago that killed a tenant in another unit has been sentenced to life in prison.

Melissa Pfeiffer was sentenced Monday in Suffolk Superior Court after impact statements from the family of victim Crystal Blanchard.

The 32-year-old Pfeiffer was convicted last month of second-degree murder. She'll be eligible for parole in 15 years.

Prosecutors say Pfeiffer set fire to her boyfriend's clothes in their first-floor apartment on Dec. 24, 2010, after an argument, then left the building.

Blanchard and her boyfriend were trapped in their second-floor unit. Her boyfriend suffered third-degree burns and broken bones after jumping from a window.

Blanchard's mother called her daughter "a caring, loving, talented young woman, loved by many."