Shirley Winters was born on February 27, 1958, in New York. She grew up in a family that faced many tragic events. In 1966, a significant tragedy struck when her 10-year-old brother and two of her younger sisters, ages 4 and 11, died from what was believed to be a carbon monoxide leak in their home. This incident marked a heavy loss for Winters and her family.

As Winters grew older, she became a mother. In 1979, her first two children, a 3-year-old daughter named Colleen and a 20-month-old son named John, died in a fire at their family's cabin in Hyde Lake, New York. Investigators attributed the cause of the fire to an electrical defect. However, when the children’s bodies were examined years later, it was discovered they had suffered blunt force head injuries before the fire occurred.

The day before the fire at her cabin, another fire broke out at a friend's house while her friend's three children were inside. This led to renewed investigations into the situation surrounding Winters in later years. Between 1979 and the years after, Winters was present at many fires, with several of them classified as arson. In 1981, she pleaded guilty to criminal mischief related to two of these fires.

In November 1989, another fire occurred in a home in Syracuse, New York, where Winters was staying with her three children. She managed to save her younger children but lost her 5-year-old daughter in a different manner.

On November 28, 2006, 23-month-old Ryan Rivers was found drowned at his grandparents' home while Shirley Winters was visiting. In August 2007, a grand jury in St. Lawrence County indicted her for second-degree murder, first-degree assault, and endangering the welfare of a child. This case led to the exhumation of Winters' son, Ronald Winters III, who died on November 21, 1980, and had initially been thought to have died from sudden infant death syndrome. Upon further investigation, police charged Winters with second-degree murder on March 28, 2007.

On April 21, 2008, Winters pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the drowning of Ryan Rivers. As part of a plea agreement, she also pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for smothering Ronald Winters III. The court sentenced her to 20 years for the drowning and 8 to 25 years for the smothering, with the sentences to be served concurrently. This arrangement allowed her to avoid more severe charges of second-degree murder and potential life sentences, as well as prosecution for the 1979 deaths of her other children.

Winters was jailed at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. After serving her sentence, she was released from prison in May 2024 and transferred to a psychiatric facility.