Woman says she was upset when she set complex afire

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005 | 9:14 a.m.

A 20-year-old Henderson woman accused of setting a blaze that caused $600,000 in damage to an apartment complex told fire investigators she was upset after her baby was taken away and wanted to hurt herself and others.

Shelly Ann Wells said she used a cigarette lighter to set fire to a mattress in the bedroom of her apartment in the Lakewood Cove complex on Center Street near Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway about 10 p.m. Aug. 25.

She was arrested at the scene and charged with nine counts of arson.

A neighbor told investigators she saw Wells smiling and laughing as other residents scrambled to grab their belongings and evacuate the building.

The neighbor also said she heard Wells' boyfriend scream, "What have you done?"

Wells told a fire investigator that child protective authorities removed her 8-month-old son from home a few weeks earlier, the police report says. Someone had reported that Wells harmed the baby.

"Wells said she is distraught over not being with her baby and that she never tried to arm her baby," an investigator wrote in the report. "Wells informed me that she had a psychological evaluation earlier that day and she was very upset and mad."

A spokeswoman with the Clark County Department of Family Services said she is not able to comment on whether Wells is being investigated.

It took 61 firefighters from Henderson and Clark County about three hours to get the fire under control, Henderson Fire Department Battalion Chief Gene Belin said.

The blaze damaged all 10 apartments in the building. No one was injured, Belin said.