Neighbor of tragic Oklahoma family recalls good samaritans pulling out bodies from burning home
BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA: A mother recounted her horror when she saw neighbors pull two parents out of their burning home, only to learn later that their six children were dead inside in an apparent murder-suicide. Brian Nelson, 34, and his wife Brittney, 32, died Thursday, October 27, at their Broken Arrow home.
The couple's six children, aged one to 13, were found dead inside their burning home, albeit police don't believe they died from the fire. Brian's father Danny, who lives five miles from the scene, revealed that his son was unable to work due to splitting headaches from a work injury in his 20s. The couple was also troubled by massive debt, he said.
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According to the Daily Mail, the couple filed for bankruptcy in December 2020. They were unemployed and living off benefits while being $138,000 in debt. The majority of that amount came from unpaid student loans. Brian reported in the bankruptcy filing that he grossed just $4,510 in income in 2019, while his wife had no source of income whatsoever. The family reportedly had $8,803 in assets, including eight guns worth $1,850 in the home: five pistols valued at $1,600; a .22-caliber rifle worth $100, and two shotguns worth $150.
39-year-old Shawna Chiles, a mother who lives in the next neighborhood, told the Daily Mail that she saw smoke billowing from the house shortly after 4 pm on Thursday and drove to the residence to see what was going on. She reportedly arrived at the scene even before the fire trucks reached. "There were two guys there," she said. "One of them had already gone into the house and pulled out the woman. She was face down. So she's laying there, and I was trying to see if she was alive. You could see her back moving, she was breathing."
Chiles said she was told the two samaritans were neighbors. "Then I see the guy drag the father out. He had blood all over his shirt. The guy said the man was dead, but the woman wasn't going to make it," she recalled, adding that the woman had been shot in the head. Chiles said other neighbors told her they heard a loud boom before the fire that sounded "like a transformer" but no gunshots. The Nelsons' immediate neighbors were baffled by the events, Chiles said, adding that no one had noticed any arguments or disturbances at the home.
The couple's landlord, Kris Welch, said the Nelsons had rented the home for the last eight years. "I feel like I'm going to throw up, honestly," she told Fox 23. The tragic couple had reportedly informed her they wanted the gas turned off after suspecting a leak. "They thought there was a gas leak, so they had the gas shut off, which was very odd to me because it's cold, and they have children," Welch said. "It's like they just wanted to be left alone. They didn't want me to do anything about it which I thought was really weird too. And then, two days later, this."
Broken Arrow Police Chief Brandon Berryhill said on Friday, October 28, that the causes of death were yet to be established but it didn't appear that anyone died because of the fire.
"No one should have to face this tragedy," Chief Berryhill said. "We have peer support teams set up, outside counseling for firefighters and families, and crews met with the chaplain team, addressing their health. This is a once-in-a-lifetime tragedy. To arrive on the scene yesterday and to see the looks on our first responders' and firefighters' faces just absolutely broke my heart," he added.