Clinton: Woman charged with murder, arson in Bradshaw Street fire that killed her mother

Clinton police have arrested a 65-year-old woman and charged her with murder in the death of her mother, who was carried unconscious out of her burning home on Bradshaw Street last month.

Diane Lambert, of Clinton, was arrested Wednesday morning, Oct. 7, and charged with murder, first-degree arson and felony cruelty to animals, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that afternoon. She is being held without bond in the Sampson County Detention Center.

The woman who died, Mozzelle Register Hope, was 88. Her obituary lists Lambert as one of her two children, a connection WRAL first reported.

Being charged with a crime does not mean a person is guilty. Lambert is presumed innocent unless she is proven guilty in court. We could not find any public statement from Lambert or from a lawyer for her.

What investigators have said

According to the SBI, Clinton police officers and firefighters were called to a single-family home in the 1000 block of Bradshaw Street at about 8:47 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 9. They found heavy smoke and flames coming from the house.

Firefighters went inside to search and found an unconscious person, whom they carried out, the SBI said. Medics treated the person at the scene and then took them to a hospital.

On Sept. 11, detectives learned that the person, Hope, had died from her injuries, the SBI said. The case became a fatal fire investigation, and Clinton police asked the SBI to help. The SBI, Clinton police and the Sampson County Fire Marshal's Office are still investigating, and the SBI said more information will be released when it is available.

Investigators have not said publicly what evidence led to the charges, how they believe the fire started or how Hope was hurt.

According to court documents, Lambert knew a dog was also inside the home at the time of the fire and that it had no way out, WRAL reported. Officials have not said what happened to the dog.

The charges

The SBI lists three charges:

• Murder
• First-degree arson
• Felony cruelty to animals

The statement lists the murder charge only as "murder," without saying whether it is first- or second-degree.

Under North Carolina law, arson is first-degree when the home that burned was occupied at the time, and it is a Class D felony. Under the state's animal cruelty law, maliciously torturing, maiming, poisoning or killing an animal, or causing that to happen, is a Class H felony. Officials have not said which part of the law the charge falls under.

Background: the Sept. 9 fire

The call about the fire came in at 8:46 p.m., and firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, the Sampson Independent reported the next day, citing Clinton Police Chief Adrian Mathews. Hope was flown by helicopter to the burn center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

In those first reports, the paper said Hope apparently was home alone and that investigators thought the fire might have started in the kitchen area, but that no origin had been confirmed and the cause was still under investigation. WRAL's crew saw firefighters with the home taped off around 11:30 p.m. that night.

Hope died at 10:46 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, according to her obituary. Some reports said she died two days after the fire, but the SBI's statement says only that detectives learned of her death on Sept. 11.

On Friday, Sept. 11, Mathews told the Sampson Independent that because the fire had caused a death, the SBI had been called in to help, which he described as standard practice.

Hope was born in Sampson County in 1937, according to her obituary, which remembers her as a devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who loved her backyard flower garden. Her funeral was held in Clinton on Sept. 17.

Nearly four weeks after the fire, police arrested her daughter.

Timeline

• Wednesday, Sept. 9, about 8:47 p.m.: Clinton police and firefighters are called to a house fire on Bradshaw Street and carry an unconscious woman out of the home (SBI).
• Thursday, Sept. 10, 10:46 p.m.: Mozzelle Register Hope dies at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill (obituary).
• Friday, Sept. 11: Detectives learn of Hope's death, and Clinton police ask the SBI to join what is now a fatal fire investigation (SBI, Sampson Independent).
• Thursday, Sept. 17: Hope's funeral is held in Clinton (obituary).
• Wednesday, Oct. 7, morning: Clinton police arrest Diane Lambert. The SBI announces the charges that afternoon.
• Thursday, Oct. 8: Lambert is due in court, according to WRAL.

What happens next

Lambert is due in court on Thursday, Oct. 8, WRAL reported. Officials have not said whether she has a lawyer, and they have not released the warrants or described what investigators believe happened before the fire.

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Clinton Police Department or the Sampson County Fire Marshal's Office. We will update this story after Lambert's court appearance or when investigators release more information.