A Milwaukee County judge has sentenced a 28-year-old woman to 24 years in prison for setting a fire that killed her boyfriend's elderly neighbor last year. Rashamba Claybrooks was sentenced this month for her role in the fatal April 2025 apartment fire near 30th and Capitol that left 71-year-old Sam Nash dead after he was found unconscious inside his unit.
Claybrooks pleaded guilty in April 2026 to one count of felony murder tied to arson of a building, along with one count of arson of property other than a building, according to FOX6 News Milwaukee, which cited information from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin circuit court records. Investigators say Claybrooks started the fire inside her boyfriend's apartment on April 8, 2025, after the two spent the day arguing; her boyfriend had reportedly asked her to move out. The Milwaukee Police Department reported the fire broke out around 2:20 p.m. near 30th and Capitol and described its cause as suspicious.
A Closet Fire With Fatal Consequences
According to the initial criminal complaint filed in April 2025, prosecutors alleged Claybrooks set fire to a closet inside Unit #105 of the apartment building following the domestic argument, as reported by CBS 58. The Milwaukee Fire Department responded to the blaze and located Nash, identified as the man found unconscious after the fire, inside the residence. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office pronounced him dead at 5 p.m. that day, roughly three hours after the fire broke out, and ruled his death a homicide caused by the fire.
Nash's sister, Debra Nash, publicly criticized the fire department in the aftermath, saying crews had cleared the scene believing the building was empty before Nash's nephew found him unconscious on his apartment floor around 4 p.m., nearly two hours after the fire began, the station's report noted. Hoodline first covered the case in an early report on the suspicious fire, when authorities were still seeking a suspect in Nash's death.
Charges Evolved Over a Year of Prosecution
When the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office initially filed charges in April 2025, Claybrooks faced arson of a building, arson of property, disorderly conduct, and two misdemeanor counts of bail jumping — but no homicide charge. That changed a year later when she pleaded guilty to felony murder at her April 2026 plea hearing, per the same account from CBS 58.
Under Wisconsin Statute § 943.02, arson of a building is a Class C felony carrying a maximum penalty of up to 40 years in prison and fines up to $100,000, according to Grieve Law. Wisconsin's felony murder statute, § 940.03, allows courts to add a sentence enhancement of up to 15 years onto the maximum penalty for an underlying felony such as arson, as explained by the Rudolph Law Office. A Milwaukee County judge ultimately sentenced Claybrooks to 24 years in prison, to be followed by eight years of extended supervision — a term consistent with Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing framework, which permits up to 15 years of extended supervision for a Class C felony, according to court documentation from Wisconsin Defender.
Domestic Violence Laws and Neighborhood Fire Risk
The case also underscores Wisconsin's mandatory arrest law for domestic abuse calls. Under Wisconsin Statute § 968.075, officers responding to domestic abuse situations are legally required to make an arrest when probable cause exists, removing discretion from responding officers in these disputes.
The fatal fire also occurred in a part of Milwaukee already stretched thin on fire response. Engine 13 of the Milwaukee Fire Department, based in the nearby Amani neighborhood, is the busiest fire station in Wisconsin, responding to 316 fire incidents in 2024 amid elevated residential fire risk tied to the area's older housing stock, according to a city report cited by local coverage. Nash's death remains the most severe consequence to emerge from the April 2025 blaze, closing out a case that took more than a year to move from a suspicious-fire investigation to a felony murder sentence.
