No Foul Play In Sunday’s Fire Fatality

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WATER VALLEY – The fatality in Sunday’s house fire marked the third time during the last nine months that fire fighters have responded to report of a burning residence with someone inside. Sunday’s fire was different than the other two calls as investigators were able to determine that the cause of death was smoke inhalation. The origin of the fire was also clearly visible, starting in the vicinity of a wall heater at the rear of the home.
A resident who lived at the home first noticed smoke after returning from town. She did everything she could to get the victim out of the home before firefighters arrived.
The prior two fire calls – a fire on May 17 and another on Dec. 26 – were different. Two fatalities in the May fire and one in the December fire were each ruled homicides. Kendrick Scott was charged last month with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Jennifer Nault and Richard Dicken in the May fire. Both victims were discovered in a badly burned mobile home on County Road 294, just west of Water Valley off Hwy. 32.
An autopsy revealed both victims had been shot in the head. The trailer was then torched in an attempt to hide the cause of death. Investigators from local and state agencies worked eight months before an arrest was made. Scott provided information to investigators that strongly linked him to the double murder and he was charged on Jan. 31.
The December fire remains under investigation after the body of 38 year-old Kristian Michell Jones was discovered inside her badly burned mobile home on Patricia Drive in the Water Valley Boat Landing community a day after Christmas. An autopsy confirmed the cause of death was not connected to the fire and authorities continue to investigate.