John Jefferson
Background: The couch where victim Tiffany Dunford was sitting when she was set on fire (WSLS/YouTube). Insets, left to right: Victim Tiffany Dunford (Facebook), Savannah Adams (New River Valley Regional Jail).
A woman in Virginia who was free on bond for assaulting a person with a pipe is now charged with murder after allegedly dousing someone she knew in gasoline as she sat on a couch and setting her on fire, causing fatal injuries, police say.
Savannah Adams, 28, is accused of killing Wythe County resident Tiffany Dunford at her home in Max Meadows, according to cops. The murder unfolded Sunday, Nov. 17, in an outbuilding at the property, with Adams allegedly setting Dunford ablaze as she sat on a couch inside of it.
Footage captured by local NBC affiliate WSLS shows the charred and scorched remains of Dunford’s couch. Someone called the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office that day and reported the incident, leading deputies to find Dunford clinging to life.
“Upon arrival, deputies discovered the victim suffering from severe burns covering most of her body,” the sheriff’s office said in a weekend press release. “The victim was transported by helicopter to a specialized medical facility for treatment of her injuries.”
Adams, who knows Dunford through friends and family, allegedly fled from the scene in a silver 2004 Dodge Neon that was identified and shown on Facebook by the sheriff’s office, along with a photo of Adams. She was taken into custody early Monday and charged with attempted second-degree murder and felonious assault. Dunford succumbed to her injuries later in the day, leading cops to update Adams’ charges to first degree murder.
Photos released by the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office during its search for Savannah Adams (WCSO/Facebook).
“Anybody that knew Tiffany, she could light up a room, and whether she was in the right or wrong, I don’t care, I still loved her, but she didn’t deserve to be burned,” Dunford’s cousin, Nancy Reyna, told local Fox affiliate WFXR. “Tiffany is too nice of a person, and this is devastating to me and my family.”
Police investigators report that Dunford and Adams were acquaintances who knew each other through friends and family, according to WSLS, with posts on Facebook from Dunford’s relatives also confirming this. They both describe themselves as mothers and each have pictures with their kids online.
Several people related to Dunford made posts online early Monday saying Adams had allegedly hacked one of her family member’s Facebook accounts and was messaging people on there.
It’s unclear what the family member’s relation is to Dunford.
According to the Bristol Herald Courier, Adams has a lengthy rap sheet and was supposed to be tried Monday in Pulaski County on a July 8 misdemeanor destruction of property charge. She also had a Dec. 5 trial date scheduled and was free on bond for an alleged attack she committed on a woman in 2023 with a metal pipe.
More from Law&Crime: ‘They are all on fire!’: Mother who felt ‘too much humiliation’ doused her 2-year-old and 8-month-old sons in gasoline and set them ablaze, cops say
“Savannah was trying to kill me,” the victim reportedly recalled telling a witness in court documents, per the Herald Courier.
For that case, Adams was charged with assault and trespassing, the latter of which she’s been convicted of twice in the past, along with obstructing justice. Adams is currently being held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail.
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