Post by Adriana Velez
A woman, her boyfriend, and three small children died in a horrific fire in their home. Did their downstairs neighbor set that fire -- and did she set it over a dispute over a stroller left in a shared hallway? That's what a jury must decide this week. Melanie Smith is accused of murdering a family of five by setting fire to the family's stroller. Smith lived on the bottom floor of a building. Lee-Ann Shires, her boyfriend Liam Tembrell, their 15-month-old son Charlie, and Shires' 2-year-old niece Skye and 4-year-old nephew Bailey all lived in the apartment above. When a fire started on the first floor, Smith managed to escape through a window. But Shires and the children were trapped on the second floor. Tembrell managed to escape and lived long enough to finger Smith as the suspect before dying in the hospital a week later.![]()
A woman, her boyfriend, and three small children died in a horrific fire in their home. Did their downstairs neighbor set that fire -- and did she set it over a dispute over a stroller left in a shared hallway? That's what a jury must decide this week. Melanie Smith is accused of murdering a family of five by setting fire to the family's stroller. Smith lived on the bottom floor of a building. Lee-Ann Shires, her boyfriend Liam Tembrell, their 15-month-old son Charlie, and Shires' 2-year-old niece Skye and 4-year-old nephew Bailey all lived in the apartment above. When a fire started on the first floor, Smith managed to escape through a window. But Shires and the children were trapped on the second floor. Tembrell managed to escape and lived long enough to finger Smith as the suspect before dying in the hospital a week later.