MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Florida — A 45-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder after a man was set on fire on Saturday evening in the Brownsville area of northwest Miami-Dade, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews were called at about 6:02 p.m. on Saturday, October 24, to the area of Northwest 63rd Street and Northwest 25th Avenue, where they found the man unconscious and badly burned. The sheriff's office identified him as Nathaniel Devon Mathis, 33. He was taken to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with second- and third-degree burns over at least 80 percent of his body, in extremely critical condition, and the arrest report said he was not expected to survive, according to reporting of the report.
Witnesses told investigators that the accused, Tanisha Shelton, and Mathis had argued earlier in the day, according to the arrest report. Shelton allegedly threatened to leave and return with someone to assault him, then came back several hours later carrying a bucket containing an unknown accelerant. The report alleges she borrowed a lighter from a witness, approached Mathis and resumed the argument before pouring the liquid on him and setting him on fire. These are allegations in the arrest report, not findings by a court.
Shelton ran from the scene, and a witness chased her and used pepper spray in an effort to stop her, authorities said. Witnesses helped officers locate and arrest her. She was booked early on Sunday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on charges of attempted first-degree murder and arson causing great bodily harm. The corrections listing showed a $10,000 bond on the attempted murder charge, with bond on the arson charge listed as pending, Focal News reported.
Source: Local 10 News (WPLG) — Woman arrested after man set on fire in northwest Miami-Dade, Oct. 25, 2026
As of the latest reporting on Sunday, Mathis had not been reported dead and no homicide charge had been announced. The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office investigation is continuing.