USA: Father Who Burned 2-Year-Old Daughter Alive Dies in Prison After 26 Years

USA: Father Who Burned 2-Year-Old Daughter Alive Dies in Prison After 26 Years

The Arizona man who set his 2-year-old daughter on fire in the desert has died in prison 26 years after carrying out one of the most disturbing child murders in U.S. history.

Shawn Ryan Grell, 50, was found dead inside the Arizona State Prison in Tucson on April 19. Authorities say the cause of death is still under investigation.

In 1999, Grell picked up his daughter, Kristen Salem, from daycare, took her to McDonald’s, and promised a trip to see Christmas lights. Instead, he bought gasoline, drove into the desert, and burned her alive while she slept.

Kristen woke up and tried to run but collapsed just 10 feet away in flames.

After the killing, Grell casually bought beer and lied to a store clerk, then confessed the next morning with zero emotion:

I took the gasoline… I poured it on her. I threw the match.

Originally sentenced to death, Grell’s penalty was overturned in 2013 due to a Supreme Court ruling that bans executing people with intellectual disabilities.

Kristen’s murder remains one of Arizona’s most haunting cases of child murder. Grell spent over two decades behind bars before dying at age 50.