Man arrested in fatal house fire, coroner IDs another homicide victim

RIVERTON (WNE) — Police have arrested a Riverton man on charges of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a woman found dead during a house fire on April 26.

Vurnon Doney, 55, was arrested at his home on Blackfoot Avenue and booked into the Fremont County Jail.

According to the Riverton Police Department, law enforcement were called at about 2:20 a.m. on April 26 on a report of a house fire with a woman possibly trapped inside the home on the 1200 block of East Main Street. Detectives were called in after first responders noted signs of accelerants inside the home.

Eve Newton, 48, of Riverton, was found dead inside. The results of an autopsy are pending.

Fremont County Coroner Erin Ivie also identified the victim of a homicide and her cause of death.

According to the office, Utahnna BearComesOut was murdered on April 14 and died of a single gunshot wound to the head at around 9:20 p.m.

Her death was the fifth of seven this year in Fremont County that have either been ruled as a homicide or are under investigation as suspicious.

This story was published on May 11, 2024.