Canton firefighters battling a blaze inside a Skyline Terrace apartment on Sunday morning made a grim discovery: two women dead inside the unit, both suffering from severe burns and from wounds investigators say were not caused by the fire itself. The victims, identified as 42-year-old Canton resident Katina C. Spells and 31-year-old Kourtni D. Yeager of Massillon, were found around 10 a.m. inside Apartment 712 at 712 Alan Page Drive SE, and both were pronounced dead after being rushed to nearby hospitals.
According to WKYC, Canton firefighters requested police assistance immediately after discovering the two women inside the burning unit, and the presence of wounds unrelated to the fire has turned what began as a structure fire response into a death investigation. As News 5 Cleveland reported, Canton police said the two women died after being found during the Sunday morning apartment fire, and Canton detectives are now investigating the deaths. Canton police have asked anyone with information to contact the Canton Communications Center.
A Complex With a Troubled Recent History
The fire broke out at Skyline Terrace Apartments, a sprawling 416-unit Section 8 subsidized housing complex spread across 38 buildings that were built in 1966, according to property listings from Paths Communities. The southeast Canton development has drawn repeated police attention this year alone. In January, a 20-year-old Massillon man was shot and killed outside the complex on Alan Page Drive SE, a case that led to murder charges against four suspects, per WKYC's earlier reporting on the case.
Then in July, Canton police opened another homicide investigation at the same complex after a man's body was found with gunshot wounds outside a vehicle following an overnight dispute. Jordan Miller News reported that witnesses described hearing a heated argument before gunshots rang out near the building. The pattern of violence stretches back years — a report by CBS News citing Canton police statistics found officers logged 1,074 emergency calls to Alan Page Drive SE in 2015 alone, with hundreds more in each of the following two years, numbers that once led residents and community advocates to raise alarms about living conditions there.
Investigators Weigh Fire, Foul Play
How Sunday's fire and the women's other injuries relate to each other remains an open question. In cases where non-thermal wounds surface during a structure fire, local authorities in Ohio typically bring in the Ohio State Fire Marshal's Bureau of Fire and Explosion Investigation, according to reporting by WTOL on prior fatal fire cases in the state. State fire investigators generally examine the fire's origin and burn patterns while local detectives and coroners assess whether the deaths involved criminal activity.
In fatal fire cases involving suspected trauma, forensic autopsies typically determine whether external wounds occurred before thermal damage, a distinction that shapes whether a death is ultimately classified as a homicide, an accident, or arson-related, per Stark County Sheriff's Office and coroner practices described in local reporting. It is not yet known whether the Ohio State Fire Marshal has been called in on this case, whether arson is suspected, or whether Canton police have identified any suspects. The exact cause of the women's non-fire wounds has also not been disclosed.
Part of a Broader Rise in Canton Homicides
The deaths add to a troubling citywide trend. Canton homicides climbed from five in 2023 to 12 in 2024, according to Canton police data reported by News 5 Cleveland, even as the department reported drops in some other violent and property crime categories. Whether Sunday's deaths will ultimately be classified among the city's homicide count depends on the outcome of the autopsy and fire investigation.
Canton police have asked anyone with information about the deaths of Katina Spells and Kourtni Yeager to contact the Detective Bureau at 330-489-3144, or to submit anonymous tips through Tip411 or Stark County Crime Stoppers, per WKYC. No further details about the circumstances inside Apartment 712 have been released as the investigation continues.
