Brownsville man sentenced for attempted homicide
Left woman for dead, set fire to home
A Brownsville man could spend more than three decades in prison after a Fayette County jury found him guilty of beating his ex-girlfriend and setting a fire at her home with several other people inside.
Anthony Boyer, 47, was convicted Wednesday in Fayette County Court of Common Pleas in connection with the October 2025 incident in Brownsville. In addition to attempted homicide, Boyer was found guilty of aggravated assault, burglary and arson.
Judge Joseph George sentenced Boyer to 17 to 34 years in prison immediately after the jury’s verdict Wednesday.
Boyer broke into the home of Shannon Shields in the early morning hours of Oct. 28, 2025, attacking her with a tire iron and baseball bat until she pretended to be dead, according to court records. Shields had a protective order against Boyer.
Shields also hit another woman living at the home in the face and head with a closed fist, as well as throwing a vase at Shields’ son, which lacerated his face when it shattered, court documents said.
After troopers arrived, Boyer hid in a second-floor closet before eventually surrendering. As he was being taken into custody, police noticed smoke coming from a fire he had intentionally set in the closet, police said in 2025. The fire rapidly spread before the Brownsville Fire Department was able to extinguish it.
When troopers informed Boyer that Shields wasn’t dead, he told them she would be, and that “he had people in Baltimore that would make sure,” according to his complaint.