Ex-manager of Frayser store agrees to 50-year sentence in blaze that killed two firefighters
By Lawrence Buser
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Copyright 2007 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.
FRAYSER, Tenn. — A former store manager pleaded guilty Wednesday to arson charges stemming from a 2003 fire at the Family Dollar Store in Frayser that claimed the lives of two firefighters and injured a third.
Anthony Paul Shaw, who set the fire to hide his theft from a store safe, agreed to a 50-year prison sentence pending approval June 29 by U.S. Dist. Court Judge Samuel H. Mays. There is no parole in the federal system.
Shaw, 25, could have faced the death penalty for killing the firefighters during the perpetration of an arson.
Killed in the June 15, 2003, fire at the Family Dollar Store at 3732 North Watkins were Lt. Trent Kirk and Pvt. Charles Zachary.
The men, both 39, were posthumously awarded Medals of Honor and their names have been added to the memorial wall outside the Fire Museum Downtown that lists 50 firefighters who have died in the line of duty since 1880.
Kirk, who was trapped when the roof collapsed, died at the scene of extensive burns.
Zachary was pulled from the building unconscious and died several hours later at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis from smoke and heat inhalation.
Both were part of a rescue team that believed Shaw was inside.
Another firefighter, Pvt. Tim Scott, was injured in the blaze.
Investigators later concluded Shaw intentionally set the fire to hide his theft from the store’s safe.
In his home they found $110 in cash, $282 in rolled coins and numerous checks made out to Family Dollar.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Tennessee Bomb and Arson Section, Memphis Fire Department Investigative Services and Memphis Police Department.
Wrongful death suits filed by families of the deceased firefighters against the city fire department, a breathing apparatus manufacturer and Family Dollar are still pending.