MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A convicted Florida murderer serving a decades-long prison sentence is accused of setting a fire in his cell at the Dade Correctional Institution and then throwing urine at corrections officers who responded to deal with the situation.

Christopher Clardy, 48, formerly of Auburndale, murdered 29-year-old Preston Burnett in Polk County in 2017. Sheriff’s deputies said Clardy, then 39, shot Burnett multiple times and dragged his body into a wooded area. The killing was heard in a recording made by 30-year-old co-conspirator Jamie Garst.

As of Tuesday, Clardy isn’t set to leave prison until 2058, when he’ll be 80. He was being housed at DCI, located at 19000 SW 377th St., south of Florida City.

Authorities said at around 2:10 p.m. on Saturday, smoke was seen coming from Clardy’s cell in the F Dormitory. The window had been covered with a cloth to obscure the view inside.

According to an arrest report, officers who opened the cell flap saw glowing embers and Clardy threw an object containing glowing embers through the flap at a sergeant.

The report states that Clardy told another sergeant he was “ready for y’all” and then threw liquid at the sergeant’s face as he tried to use a fire extinguisher through the door flap.

The sergeant “stated the liquid smelled like urine and he ‘knew what it was.’”

Investigators said Clardy threw liquid at other officers as well. Eventually, it took an extraction team to get Clardy ― and the fire ― out.

Authorities said Clardy remained combative, telling an investigator he “was ready to fight again.”

Clardy now faces new charges of first-degree arson and two counts of battery on a corrections officer in Miami-Dade County.

As of Tuesday, he was being held in the county’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

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