Robert Shane Zimmerman was taken into custody after police said witnesses tied him to a fire that killed Brandy Phillippe.
LEWISTOWN, Pa. — A 40-year-old Lewistown man was held after police said he set a Bratton Avenue home on fire, killing one woman and seriously injuring two other residents.
Robert Shane Zimmerman was located at an East Third Street boarding house after the May 6 fire and later lodged in the Mifflin County Correctional Facility. Police said the case involves arson, a homicide investigation and injuries to survivors who escaped from second-floor windows. The woman who died was identified as Brandy Phillippe, 44, of Lewistown.
The case began before officers found Zimmerman. At 11:55 p.m., emergency crews were sent to 208 Bratton Avenue for a residential fire. Witnesses at the scene told officers the blaze had been intentionally set and that people remained trapped inside. Firefighters moved to control the flames while police gathered urgent details from people outside the home. The residence had been sublet to several occupants, according to investigators, which left officers trying to determine who lived there, who had escaped and who might still be inside. By the time the fire was under control, Phillippe was dead, two residents had serious injuries and investigators were treating the scene as suspicious.
Phillippe’s death was confirmed by Mifflin County Coroner Andrea Alcalde. The coroner’s office said preliminary findings showed Phillippe had tried to flee but could not escape. She was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy was scheduled at Mount Nittany Medical Center to determine the exact cause of death. The case became a homicide investigation after Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Steven Griffith ruled the blaze an arson. “Our thoughts and prayers remain with Ms. Phillippe’s family, friends, and all those affected by this tragic loss,” the coroner’s office said. The office’s findings became a key bridge between the fire response and the criminal case.
The injuries to the surviving residents showed how quickly the fire narrowed their ways out. Police said a man jumped from a second-story window and suffered significant injuries to his face. Investigators said he was also believed to have internal burns to his throat and was flown to a burn trauma center. Officers also reached a woman hanging from a second-floor window while flames came from several windows. Police said she refused to jump and was believed to have passed out from smoke inhalation before falling to the sidewalk below. She suffered serious injuries and was flown to a trauma center. Police did not publicly release their names in the initial reports.
Zimmerman entered the investigation through witness accounts, police said. Several people told officers he had been at the Bratton Avenue home shortly before the fire began. They said he had expressed love for a woman who lived there and became upset after she rejected him. Investigators said witnesses reported that Zimmerman then set fire to several items on the first floor. Police said witnesses also heard him admit starting the blaze and saw him watching the home burn from an alley nearby. Surveillance images appeared to corroborate the statements, according to investigators. Police did not release the images with the first public reports.
The alleged motive did not answer every question. Police did not identify the woman who rejected Zimmerman, and officials did not say whether she was injured in the fire. Investigators also did not publicly describe the items they believe were first set ablaze. Those details are likely to matter in court because they may show where the fire started, how it spread and whether the person who started it knew people were inside. For now, officials have said the fire began after a rejection, that several people were living in the house and that at least three residents were unable to leave safely.
After police identified Zimmerman as a suspect, detectives with Lewistown police and Mifflin County Regional Police found him at the boarding house on East Third Street. Officers said he smelled of ash and smoke when he was detained. Police said he was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant, and authorities later noted a state parole detainer. Zimmerman told officers he had ingested fentanyl, according to police. Officers said he showed signs of an opioid overdose, so they took him to Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital. He was cleared by hospital staff several hours later, then taken to the police department for questioning.
Police said Zimmerman made several incriminating statements during questioning. Investigators said he claimed he could not remember the exact time the fire started but was able to speak about what happened immediately before and after it began. Police also said he reacted strongly when told that an occupant had died. Those statements, along with witness accounts, the smell of ash and smoke, surveillance images and the fire marshal’s arson ruling, form the public outline of the case against him. Authorities said charges including arson were filed or expected in connection with the fire, Phillippe’s death and the injuries to the two survivors.
The scene left a mark on the neighborhood. A witness described orange flames coming from a kitchen window and said people outside shouted for someone to jump. Local accounts also reported that cats near the property died in the fire. The blaze unfolded in Lewistown Borough, a small community in central Pennsylvania, where a late-night emergency on one residential block quickly drew attention from local police, regional officers, firefighters, the coroner and the state police fire marshal. The official record remains focused on what happened inside the first floor before flames trapped people above.
Zimmerman remained jailed as investigators continued to collect evidence and prepare the case for Mifflin County court. The next public steps are expected to include autopsy findings, final fire investigation records, medical documentation for the injured residents and hearings on the arson and homicide-related allegations.
Author note: Last updated June 1, 2026.