Overview
- Melbourne Magistrates' Court issued a warrant on Thursday after Shania Lee failed to appear, with the magistrate ordering her bail forfeited and the case adjourned to a date to be fixed.
- Lee is charged with two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of negligently causing serious injury over a September 8, 2024 house fire in Sydenham.
- Two daughters, aged five and one, died days after the blaze, while a three-year-old child survived with injuries.
- Prosecutors allege the children were left alone, CCTV shows the adults leaving about a minute before the smoke alarm, and Lee viewed home-camera footage and did not call Triple Zero.
- Lee had been bailed to live in Moama with strict reporting to Echuca police, and prosecutors said she stopped reporting on December 22 and now faces fresh breach charges, while charges against her partner were withdrawn after he died on bail.