A woman who was found dead at the scene of a house fire 11 months ago committed suicide, a coroner has concluded.
Shannon Maureen Kathleen Parsons, 28, died from self-inflicted stab wounds and was "under the heavy influence of methampthetamines at the time of the incident," coroner Lynne Hyatt said in a final report released Wednesday.
Firefighters and other first responders were called to a 6100 block Dave Road home shortly after 11 a.m. on July 22, 2013 where they learned Parsons was trapped inside an upstairs bedroom where the fire had started.
By noon the fire was contained and Parsons was removed from the bedroom but she had no vital signs and was taken to University Hospital of Northern B.C. After an hour of resuscitation attempts, Parsons was pronounced dead.
An ensuing investigation by the Office of the Fire Commissioner determined the fire was started in front of the bedroom's closet. A mattress placed at the location and a three hampers full of clothes appeared to have been the materials that were ignited and a lighter was found in the bedroom's ensuite.
Medical records indicated Parsons had a history of addiction to methampthetamines and had mental health issues that included prior suicide attempts. Over the three previous years, Parsons had many visits to the hospital and one serious injury due to a self-inflicted stab wound.
Two days before her death, she was taken to the emergency ward after she called police due to excessive methampthetamines and alcohol use. Her anxiety and agitation began to escalate the next day and a plan was in place to admit her to the detox unit. However, she left the hospital against medical advice at about 5 p.m.
An autopsy documented 61 stab wounds and the cause of her death was blood loss due to those wounds, Hyatt said.
