Fire that left two women dead remains mystery, officials say
WEST PALM BEACH — For Myriame Bonny-Francois and her family, the last four months have been filled with questions and grief in the wake of a fire that killed Maria Bonny and another woman in West Palm Beach.
Why was their sister, a mother of three, dead? What caused the fire? Was it an accident? “It’s a tough one. It’s a tough case,” Bonny-Francois said between deep breaths. “I’m not sure if we’re ever going to get the answers.”
State investigators offered little explanation in a report released this week.
The cause of the Oct. 22 fire that killed 31-year-old Roselyne Lindor-Sanon and 36-year-old Bonny at the St. Anne and Vierge Miracle Botánic a store was ruled undetermined by the state fire marshal, according to records released this week. Because of the extensive amount of damage and several possible fire starters in the store, investigators could not come to a conclusion.
B o n ny- F r a n c o i s , B o n - ny’s sister, said when their mother heard the news, she was “extremely upset with the state’s outcome” and felt even worse than she already had about losing a child, she said. Bonny’s youngest child, who is now 4 years old, recently cried out for her mother, Bonny-Francois said.
Bonny’s oldest daughter, Marvelah Laplante, said she’s been trying to cope with the loss of her mother, but with a lack of answers into what caused the fire, it’s hard.
“Now I just try to spend t i m e t h i n k i n g h a p p y thoughts,” Laplante said.
The business, owned by Bonny, was a religious artifact store and self-proclaimed voodoo temple on Belvedere Road just east of Interstate 95.
Many flammable items were found throughout the business, such as candles, incense and oils. According to the fire marshal, there was no working electricity, so an electrical malfunction was ruled out.
Additionally, authorities noted a “burn pattern” in a back prayer and ritual room where the fire is believed to have started that was consistent with a liquid being poured. Investigators later identified the liquid as gasoline.
Charred clothing from Bonny’s body tested positive for gasoline, according to the report.
A woman who works at one of the stores in the strip mall where the botánica is located told investigators she saw Bonny walk into the store with a “large handled container” that morning, but did not know what it was.
West Palm Beach police spoke with Bonny’s husband, Jean Laplante, at the scene and he said he was at the store “just prior to the fire to pick up his child,” according to reports released by police this week.
He told police when he picked up the little girl, his wife and a customer, Lindor-Sanon, were preparing to conduct a “spiritual ritual.” He explained he left before that started, according to the report.
Because of the lack of witnesses inside the store, and because it was unclear if the gasoline was kept regularly in the business, investigators could not say for sure that gasoline was the cause, or if the fire was accidental.
Patrons in the hair salon next door said they heard what sounded like an explosion that afternoon, then saw a woman, later identified as Lindor-Sanon, rushing out of the botánica on fire.
Lindor-Sanon later died from her injures at St. Mary’s Medical Center. Bonny was found dead, lying on her hands and knees in the store.
According to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s reports, both women had second-degree burns on 80 percent of their bodies.
In December, Lindor-Sanon’s husband, Christophe Sanon, filed a lawsuit claiming Bonny and her husband, the owners of the store, did not take safety precautions to ensure instances like this would not happen.