In the quiet neighborhood of Watkins, Colorado, the morning of July 1, 2024, was shattered by the sight of smoke billowing from the roof of a house on North Bersshine Street. Worried neighbors who noticed the smoke around 10 a.m. rushed to the home, knocking on the door in an attempt to alert anyone inside, but there was no answer. It wasn't until firefighters arrived and entered the residence that the body of 52-year-old Simone Renee Austin, a female, was discovered within the fire-damaged
interior.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office immediately launched an investigation into her death, with homicide detectives taking the lead. While the fire was contained to the inside of the house, the circumstances surrounding both the blaze and Simone's death were deemed suspicious. The coroner's office has yet to release a cause of death, stating that further testing is required as part of the ongoing investigation. Authorities have assured the public that there is no ongoing danger to the community and that they are not actively seeking any suspects in connection with the incident.
Details from Simone's life that have emerged paint a complicated picture. She had co-owned the home with her husband, Quincy Darnell Austin, and the couple had been married for about a year with no children. However, neighbors indicated that the couple seemed to have separated in the months leading up to the fire, with Simone living in the house by herself. Court records revealed a history of domestic trouble. In April of the same year, Quincy Austin was arrested on felony charges, including second-degree assault by strangulation and domestic violence, after Simone reported a physical altercation with him. Just three days before the fatal fire, on June 28, he pleaded guilty to a lesser misdemeanor assault charge and was sentenced to probation and community service, narrowly avoiding a three-year prison sentence.
