Shon Todd found guilty of murdering mother of his children, setting house on fire

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A man was found guilty Wednesday of murdering the mother of his children, as well as setting a house fire with two of his children inside.

Shon Todd, 50, was convicted by a Monroe County jury of second-degree murder and second-degree arson in connection with the death of Lysandra Bagley last May.

Bagley, 37, was found dead May 21, 2023 in her Garson Avenue home, her body charred beyond recognition. She had died of multiple stab wounds before the fire, it was determined. Months later, after an investigation by the Rochester Police Department and Rochester Fire Department’s Arson Task Force, Todd — the father of Bagley’s children — was arrested. According to the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, Todd stabbed Bagley during an argument and then set the house on fire, though two of his children were inside. They were not physically hurt.

Todd will be sentenced May 16.

“Shon Todd violently ended the life of someone who he claimed to love, taking a mother away from her children. This was domestic violence in its ultimate form,” Assistant District Attorney Sara VanStrydonck, among the prosecutors on the case, stated. “Shon Todd’s actions were completely inhumane without any regard to Lysandra and their children.