Survivor of Pahrump house fire faces criminal charges
The only survivor of a Pahrump house fire that killed three young boys now faces criminal charges that could raise legal questions about the nature of neglect.
Sharon Broadhead wasn’t off gambling at a local casino or getting drunk at a bar. She was home in bed when the fire started, most likely sparked in a nearby room by a lighter in the tiny hands of her 4-year-old son, Zachary.
Broadhead was home, but prosecutors will argue that she wasn’t there for her children when they needed her most.
“She put herself in a position where she was unwilling or unable to take care of her children,” said Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi, whose office filed three felony counts of child abuse and neglect against Broadhead on Thursday. “She put herself in a position where she couldn’t protect her children.”
Zachary and his brothers, Brandon Michael Smith, 5, and Elliot Broadhead, 18 months, died in the fast-moving fire.
Broadhead’s friend, Crystal Leann Smiley, 24, also died. Authorities said she was on the phone with emergency dispatchers when she succumbed to the heavy black smoke.
Each count of felony child abuse and neglect carries a possible sentence of two to 20 years in prison.
The charges came as a surprise to attorney Thomas Gibson, who has represented Broadhead since her arrest. He said he did not expect to see a mother prosecuted after losing three of her children in a fire she barely escaped from herself.
“They’re not even arguing that she did anything intentional,” Gibson said.
He called it a case of “creative prosecution” that could set a dangerous precedent by blurring the line between a lapse in supervision and criminal neglect.
“No parent can ever let their child out of their sight for a second,” Gibson said. “How are you supposed to do that 24-7?”
But Kunzi said there is more to the case than children being left unsupervised for a few minutes or hours.
He said he knows it’s not reasonable to expect a parent to “be there 100 percent of the time.”
“That’s exactly why I’ve been so measured and deliberative” in deciding whether to file charges, Kunzi said.
He declined to discuss evidence against Broadhead, but a report from the Nye County sheriff’s office said that Broadhead’s school-age daughters had a hard time rousting her from bed most mornings, and they would have to get themselves ready for school in time to catch the bus.
The report also describes a small fire Zachary started inside the house about two months earlier.
Child Protective Services never had any contact with Broadhead before the fatal blaze, according to a fatality disclosure from the state Division of Child and Family Services.
The report said the agency provided no services nor made any referrals to family members before the deaths.
On the morning of the fire, witnesses described seeing a hysterical Broadhead running back and forth in front of the home, pleading for help. She was treated for smoke inhalation and cuts on her hands from broken window glass.
Broadhead was arrested three days later and booked on three counts of manslaughter and three counts of child abuse by neglect causing a death.
She was released from custody shortly before the funeral for her sons.
Kunzi opted not to pursue manslaughter charges against her.
Fire investigators determined that the blaze began on a couch bed Zachary and Brandon were known to share but could not say with certainty how it was started or by whom, Kunzi said.
That information is almost irrelevant, he said, because the charges against Broadhead are rooted in how the boys lived, not the way they died.
“She created a living environment that created a risk for her children,” Kunzi said.
“I don’t believe who started the fire and how defines whether or not she was neglectful to the children.”
Anna Huyck, Smiley’s older sister, told the Pahrump Valley Times she was relieved to hear prosecutors are moving forward with a case against Broadhead.
Huyck thinks her sister’s friend is at least partially responsible for Smiley’s death.
As she told the Pahrump newspaper, which is owned by the parent company of the Review-Journal: “The boys were hers. If the issue is that the boys stole the lighter and started it or whatever, then, you know, it makes her responsible.”
Huyck said she also has unanswered questions about how Broadhead escaped from the house but her sister didn’t.
Authorities have not released the recording of Smiley’s 911 call, but Huyck said Broadhead can be heard talking in the background.
“You can hear Sharon in the background because they were both in the same bedroom. They were both in the master bedroom,” said Huyck in Friday’s edition of the Pahrump Valley Times.
“For one to get out and the other one not to get out, you know, there’s a whole lot of questions with that.”
Gibson said Broadhead will not be arrested again as a result of the charges filed Thursday.
She will be summoned to appear in court for her arraignment in Pahrump Justice Court, which is set for Nov. 7.
Until then, Gibson has advised his client not to speak publicly about her case.
Review-Journal writer Antonio Planas contributed to this report. Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.
