Woman may have died before Las Vegas house fire started, police say

A 35-year-old woman found dead in a Las Vegas house fire may have died before the fire started, according to a recently released police report.

Shyhelee Coleman, 35, was arrested on Nov. 16, six days after the fire, and charged with three counts of attempted murder in the death of Melynda Bown.

But the Clark County coroner’s office had not determined the cause and manner of death for Bown as of Tuesday afternoon.

It was unclear whether Coleman would face charges related to Bown’s death.

On Nov. 10, firefighters responded to a single-story home at 6223 E. Sahara Ave., which had been fully engulfed in flames, according to Clark County Fire Department Chief John Steinbeck.

They found Bown and three dogs dead inside.

“When an animal is trapped by fire it is a terrifying experience as they don’t have the same ability as a person to open a door or window and attempt to escape,” the report said. “As the fire approaches them, they will attempt to find a safe place to hide as the heat and flames get closer. One of the dogs was located on the floor of the northwest bathroom and the other two dogs were located on the closest floor of the centrally located bedroom.”

Police spoke with a man who lived at the house, identified only as “Samuel,” and Melynda Bown’s sister.

Coleman was dating Bown, according to the report. Before the fire, Samuel came home and saw that the WiFi router and his laptop were missing, then accused Coleman of stealing the items.

Samuel called police, who responded to the house and found Coleman and Bown locked in the bedroom. Officers did not force their way inside, and gave Samuel information on how to evict Coleman.

He continued to quarrel with Coleman after police left, but then didn’t hear anything coming from the bedroom. Other housemates told investigators they were unsure whether Bown was alive and could not say when they’d last seen her, according to the report.

With Coleman and Bown locked in the bedroom, Samuel and the other roommates started to see smoke, and kicked open the bedroom door to find that the bed was “completely on fire.”

Fire investigators later determined that the cause of the fire was “most probably open flame ignition of ordinary combustibles by human hands and/or with the use of an accelerant.”

In the report, police noted that the medical examiner who performed the autopsy believed that Bown was dead before the fire started, because she did not observe soot in her throat.

After the fire, Coleman later drove to his mother’s house in Bown’s car, according to the report, saying Bown was at the East Sahara Avenue home and there was “too much drama.”

Coleman was arrested in Carson City after he was spotted driving Bown’s car near Lake Tahoe.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong described a 45-minute standoff with a knife-wielding Coleman as “very, very serious.”

“He seemed very agitated,” Furlong said.

Coleman is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 13.

A previous version of this story misspelled Bown’s name.

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan @reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.