Woman sentenced for fatal fire in Homewood
Derlyn Vance’s family warned him about allowing Latoya Lyerly to stay at his house in Homewood.
Still, Mr. Vance, who was known to help those down on their luck in the neighborhood, dismissed their concerns, allowing Lyerly to live there in exchange for cooking and cleaning.
“He stated several times that she had been misunderstood and with a little love and patience she would be OK,” said his daughter, Lynda Hall-Johnson.
On Monday, Lyerly pleaded guilty to setting the Feb. 17, 2016,
fire that killed Mr. Vance, 73, as well as Gerald Johnson, 68, and Calvin Turner, 56.
Lyerly, who pleaded to three counts of third-degree murder, as well as aggravated arson and arson, will serve a total of 18 to 36 years in prison as part of an agreement with the prosecution.
Lyerly admitted setting the fire, telling investigators she heard voices telling her to kill those living in the house at 1517 N. Lang Ave.
She started the blaze, she said, by lighting paper coffee strainers and placing them on a chair on the first floor of the home. She told detectives that she believed the house was filled with “demons, and that everyone inside the residence was involved in drugs and sex. She stated that the residence was a trap house, and that she had to fulfill a mission, and kill everyone in the house,” said Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini.
Lyerly told detectives she heard voices telling her to carry out “her mission.”
During an emotional hearing Monday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel, several of the victims’ family members described their loss.
Ms. Hall-Johnson told the court that her father was her best friend, who taught her to help others.
Since the fire, though, she said, that has changed. “Now we are skeptical to help others, and we live in fear of allowing people to get close to our loved one,” she said.
Michelle Dixon-McIntosh, Mr. Vance’s sister, described her brother as a man of God with a “soft heart and infectious smile” whose greatest passion was repairing cars, which he’d do “for a home-cooked meal, a hug, in exchange for helping him around the shop or for free.”
Tia Belvin described her father, Calvin Turner, as charismatic and athletic, whose greatest attribute was “the ability to give without taking.”
“Even if he was having a bad day, he would share a smile with a friend or stranger,” she said.
Mr. Johnson was described as a good man and father.
During a brief presentation to the court, Lyerly’s defense attorney, Chris Patarini, said she entered foster care as an infant and was repeatedly abused throughout her childhood. In addition, she has bipolar disorder and has hallucinations.
Lyerly apologized to the victims’ families, saying, “I know I can’t bring them back.”