Inset: Sarah Shelburne (Nelson County Detention Center). Background: The home Shelburne allegedly tried to burn down (WLKY).
A 33-year-old woman from Kentucky found herself under arrest for allegedly igniting a fire in a house where her mother and her mother’s boyfriend were present. After setting the blaze, she called 911, warning the dispatcher that they’d “better hurry up.” Over the weekend, Sarah Shelburne was detained and faced multiple felony charges, including two counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson, as revealed by authorities.
The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office released a statement detailing that emergency responders were dispatched around 9:37 p.m. on Saturday, August 16. They headed to a house fire in the 300 block of Little Union Road, located in Fairfield, Kentucky, approximately 50 miles west of Lexington.
At the scene, first responders quickly found Shelburne, who was still there.
The report mentions that “Shelburne, 33 years old from Fairfield, deliberately started the fire in her home following a disagreement with her mother,” confirming that “Shelburne confessed she started the fire intending to harm her mother and the boyfriend.”
After the alleged confession, Shelburne is accused of attacking one of the officers during questioning.
“After being brought to the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office and during interrogation, Shelburne turned aggressive and attacked a deputy,” deputies noted in the statement.
While speaking with detectives, Shelburne supposedly indicated that she had been considering burning down the home “on most days,” as reported by the Lexington Herald Leader, citing court documents. When asked about her motivation for wanting to set the house on fire, she allegedly replied that she “wanted to kill them,” referring to her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.
Nelson County Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa told local CBS affiliate WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky, that Shelburne admitted to starting the fire during her 911 call.
“We heard on the background from the dispatch call, ‘Better hurry up. Come here because I’m lighting the house on fire and using rubbing alcohol,'” he told the station.
At some point during the police interview, Shelburne also allegedly became angry and threatened to knock the teeth out of the deputy questioning her while also spitting on him.
“There’s times that she does really good and there’s times that she don’t. And I guess that night, she just was having a bad time and acted on impulse and did things that you shouldn’t be doing.” Pineiroa said to WLKY.
Shelburne was transported to the Nelson County Correctional Center for processing.
She appeared in court for her arraignment on Tuesday, where a judge ordered her to remain in detention at the Nelson County Correctional Center in lieu of $1 million bond.
