A Pennsylvania father who admitted setting fire to the home he once shared with his estranged wife has been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison after the blaze killed his 19-year-old daughter and badly burned her mother.
Brian Shelleby, 47, was sentenced Thursday to 15 to 30 years behind bars after pleading guilty last month to third-degree murder and aggravated arson.
The deadly fire happened on the morning of Sept. 14, 2025, at a home in Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania.
According to court documents, Shelleby and his estranged wife, Carly Shelleby, had been in the middle of a separation and arguing over whether he could continue staying at the house.
Carly told investigators she told him he could no longer live there.
Shelleby allegedly responded by saying he was going to “burn the house down.”
He then grabbed a 5-gallon gasoline can and poured fuel throughout both floors of the home, according to the affidavit.
The house then erupted into flames while Carly and the couple’s 19-year-old daughter, Lakyn Shelleby, were still inside.
Carly screamed for her daughter to get out.
She managed to escape, but suffered severe burns.
Lakyn was trapped inside.
Firefighters later found her unresponsive, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shelleby stayed at the property and later admitted to police that he started the fire.
He told investigators he had been trying to convince his wife to let him remain in the home.
When she refused, he said he went looking for the gas can.
The case reached an emotional climax during Thursday’s sentencing hearing.
According to WTAE, Carly addressed the court and asked the judge, “How was it so easy for him to burn us alive?”
Shelleby did not personally speak during the hearing.
Instead, his attorney, Phil DiLucente, read a statement on his behalf.
“To my family, my wife and my daughter, I am sorry,” the statement said. “This should have never happened.”
Shelleby also said his days are filled with flashbacks and his nights with nightmares.
“A part of me died along with her,” the statement continued. “I wish I could take that day back. I am just completely sorry.”
The sentence means Shelleby could spend as many as three decades in prison for the fire that killed his daughter and devastated his family.
This is at least a way to get this POS out of his wife’s life forever.