Woman killed in weekend house fire in Las Vegas identified

A woman whose body was found Sunday after a house fire in northwest Las Vegas has been identified as a 41-year-old valley resident.

The victim was Tara Shapiro, according to the Clark County coroner’s office, which had not determined her official cause and manner of death as of Tuesday.

Shapiro’s body was found by Las Vegas Fire Department firefighters around 9:15 a.m. Sunday inside a bedroom of 5905 Cancun Ave., located in a residential area near West Iron Mountain Road and North Jones Boulevard.

Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said a mattress in the bedroom had caught fire, although the exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Metropolitan Police Department homicide detectives also were assisting with the investigation, a common practice with fatal fires in the valley.

The one-story house built in 2005 is owned by Leonard Shapiro, according to Clark County property records. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the home was equipped with smoke detectors or sprinklers.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381.