DAD TORCHED HOME OF ESTRANGED WIFE AND KILLED DAUGHTER INSTEAD

PEOPLE

 

Dad Torched Home of Estranged Wife — and Killed Their 19-Year-Old Daughter Instead

By Samira Asma-Sadeque  Published on September 14, 2026 01:16PM EDT

 

A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced a year after setting fire to his estranged wife’s home, killing their 19-year-old daughter.

 

Lakyn Shelleby, 19, was murdered in the fire at a Castle Shannon, Pa., home on Sept. 14, 2025, the Allegheny County Police Department said at the time.

 

Her father, Brian Shelleby, 47, was promptly arrested. He pleaded guilty last month to third-degree murder and aggravated arson causing bodily injury, according to online court records reviewed by PEOPLE.

 

Shelleby set the house on fire after an argument with his estranged wife, Lakyn’s mother, who told him he could no longer stay with them, investigators determined, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, TribLive and WPXI.

 

The woman told investigators that after the argument, “she heard what sounded like liquid being poured downstairs in the garage,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Post-Gazette. She further told police she saw “Brian Shelleby pouring gas as he came up the stairs and continued pouring gas throughout the first floor.”

 

Police said Brian poured about half the contents of a five-gallon gas can throughout the basement and garage, then up the “steps to the first floor, through the living room, dining room, and kitchen, then back down the stairs towards the garage,” according to the Post-Gazette. Shortly afterward, the house exploded.

 

His estranged wife was able to escape and screamed for Lakyn to jump out, but she was stuck inside. When responders found her, Lakyn was unresponsive and eventually declared dead at the scene.

 

The woman also suffered severe burns in the attack, per the Post-Gazette.

 

Lakyn was a talented musician and an athlete, according to her online obituary. She was a tenor saxophonist and accomplished martial artist whose “tenacity and dedication were evident in all that she pursued,” according to the online tribute.

 

“An independent and passionate individual, she shared her heart generously and was deeply loved by her family and friends,” her loved ones said.

 

“This beautiful, talented, intelligent, caring young woman will be forever 19,” read a GoFundMe set up last year to help her mother and brother.

 

As part of Brian’s August plea to third-degree murder and aggravated arson causing bodily injury, authorities withdrew charges of aggravated arson causing death, four other arson-related charges and one count of causing catastrophe, according to his online court records.

 

He has been sentenced to 15 to 30 years, the records show.

 

At his sentencing on Thursday, Sept. 10, Lakyn’s mother said she wished she could’ve saved her life or “that it was me who perished,” the Post-Gazette reported.

 

“How was it so easy for him to burn us alive?” the bereaved mother asked.

 

“She is everywhere. She is in my heart, she is in my mind,” she said. “I miss my daughter. I miss my best friend.”

 

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.