Mother charged over her children’s house fire deaths granted bail again

The mother accused of the fire that broke out at home and caused the death of her two children was released on bail for the second time.

An arrest warrant was issued last week after Shania Lee failed to appear in court on Thursday.

The 27-year-old has been charged with two counts of negligent homicide and one count of negligently causing serious injury after two young children died and another was seriously injured in a house fire in Melbourne’s northwest in September 2024.

Police claimed Ms Lee’s three children were left alone in the house when the fire broke out, resulting in the deaths of five-year-old Izabelle Petalas and one-year-old Lyvia Petalas.

One of Ms. Lee’s children, three-year-old Kalais Petalas, escaped the fire with serious injuries.

Izabelle, Lyvia and Kalais were rescued by the fire brigade and taken to the hospital.

Both girls died three days later.

It was not alleged that the fire in the master bedroom was lit deliberately, but Ms Lee and her then-boyfriend Matthew McAuliffe knew there was a fire and did not take any steps to return or seek help, the court previously heard.

Ms Lee’s ex-boyfriend, Mr McAuliffe, was also charged with manslaughter and negligently causing serious injury during the fire, but the charges were formally withdrawn in November last year.

The court was told Mr McAuliffe died in October.

Ms Lee had previously been granted bail to live with her mother in Moama, NSW, with the expectation that she would report to the police three days a week.

Prosecutor Georgia Hogg argued Ms Lee would pose an unacceptable risk to the community if granted bail and cited numerous late or missed presentations to Echuca Police Station.

Arson and Explosives Unit Senior Constable Chris Mitchell claimed Ms Lee was not based at the Moama address but instead lived in Melbourne’s western suburbs and had traveled to Echuca on reporting days.

Constable Mitchell told the court police had obtained CCTV footage of Ms Lee standing next to a vehicle with a stolen number plate at Hobsons Bay in Melbourne’s west.

“The depiction of a vehicle with stolen license plates certainly poses a risk to the public’s safety,” Officer Mitchell said.

“It is my educated opinion that people driving around with stolen license plates are not doing it to get food.”

Ms Lee’s lawyer, Nick Jane, argued that his client would not pose an unacceptable risk to the public and that exceptional circumstances were met.

Mr Jane told Ms Lee that the accommodation offered to her in Altoona, together with drug and alcohol support, would reduce the risk to an acceptable level.

Although he occasionally failed to report on time, he maintained that he still made presentations, albeit a little late.

“The reality is that actual behavior from December 12 to 24 was pretty good,” he said.

Mr Jane said Ms Lee’s deceased daughter’s birthday on December 25 led to Ms Lee “spiraling out of control” about missing police reports.

In his final question, Mr Jane asked Constable Mitchell whether “increased reporting… provision of mental health and drug use support and a fixed address away from Moama” could reduce the risk to the community that Ms Lee suggested.

“Yes,” he replied.

Ms Hogg changed her mind and told the court “appropriate circumstances exist to alleviate bail issues”.

“The prosecution no longer claims that the level of risk cannot be reduced,” he said.

Judge Olivia Trumble granted Ms Lee bail under the agreement that she reside at an Altona address, report to Altona Police Station three days a week and maintain a strict curfew of 10pm to 6pm each night.

“It’s probably better to have it in Melbourne than across the border,” Ms Trumble said.

Speaking to Ms Lee, she said: “It is clear that things have deteriorated for you in recent weeks and as a result you have been unable to appear in court.”

“Obviously you have a lot of work to do around pain and loss, but also around drugs and alcohol.”

“Regarding the risk issue, the prosecution has now accepted that the risk level has been reduced to an acceptable level. Accordingly, he has been released on bail,” he said.

Ms Lee will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on February 24.