Fire Exposes Child Neglect Case After Blaze In Follansbee

A fire on Virginia Avenue in Brooke County on Feb. 26, 2026, led investigators to what prosecutors described as a child neglect case involving a 5-year-old living in “deplorable conditions.”
Follansbee police responded to the fire and found the child living in the home, according to Brooke County Prosecutor Kim Cowden.
“They were later they later found a 5-year-old child that had been living in the home in these deplorable conditions,” Cowden said. “As a result of those conditions there were two individuals that were arrested one being Kyron Coleman. The other one being Natasha Thomas the parents of that infant.”
Coleman and Thomas each pleaded guilty to four counts of child neglect. Cowden said her office focused on ensuring the child was protected.
“The priority of my office is protecting children, 100% protecting children,’ Cowden said. “And this is a case where we had a child that was in need of protection, and we did what we needed to do to make sure that that child was protected.”
Coleman was sentenced Oct. 5, and Thomas was sentenced Oct. 19. Both were sentenced to the maximum of no less than four and no more than 40 years.