LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas woman has been sentenced after a fire at an unlicensed group home left a woman dead.
According to the Nevada Attorney General's Office, this is all related to a 2021 house fire in North Las Vegas.
On June 26, 2021, members of the North Las Vegas Fire Department responded to call that a home in the 1900 block of Hart Avenue was on fire.
Firefighters were notified that a woman was trapped and she was found unconscious with second degree burns on most of her body. She was taken to University Medical Center where she later died. Two LVMPD officers also received minor injuries attempting to rescue the woman.
North Las Vegas firefighters said fireworks caused the fire. Five others living in the home were displaced.
North Las Vegas police contacted the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit after the fire to report a possible case of neglect.
Investigators discovered that 41-year-old Shawna Virginia Cuff was renting out a closet to a woman, knowing the woman couldn't take care of herself.
Investigators added the closet was an illegal structure without permits. The egress door for the large bedroom and the closet door were offset and when both the bedroom door and closet door were opened at the same time, the two touched and didn't allow enough room for a person to walk through the doorway.
They said the closet also had no window or other means to escape and the woman was trapped in the closet during the fire.
"The State of Nevada requires facilities like this to be licensed and for qualified caregivers to be present whenever residents are in the facility," said Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford. "These laws are designed to protect individuals from unfortunate tragedies like the one here resulting from this fire. We are appalled at the facts of this case."
Judge Michael P. Villani found Cuff guilty of attempted neglect of a vulnerable person. She was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections. She was also ordered to pay more than $30,000 in costs and penalties.
