A Winnipeg woman has pleaded guilty to starting a rooming-house fire that killed five people.
Lulonda Flett, 41, initially faced multiple counts of second-degree and attempted murder. However, in a Monday court appearance, she pleaded guilty to five counts of manslaughter instead.
The blaze in question tore through a home in the city’s Point Douglas district in July 2011. Investigators believe the unwieldy fire began on the home’s front porch with some type of accelerant.
At the time of the fire, eight people were inside the 12-suite rooming house. Five of those individuals died from injuries sustained during the blaze.
On Monday, Justice Brenda Keyser asked Flett if she understood that a long jail sentence is in her future, to which Flett responded “yes.”
Witnesses interviewed in 2011 told police that Flett had been in some sort of dispute with one of the residents living in the building.
Flett’s sentencing is scheduled to take place on March 21.
With files from CTV Winnipeg and The Canadian Press
