I am no anvil masta', but as a mapmaker I've learned a couple of things during my years, maybe it can be of help...
Physics
set "terminal velocity" and "external velocity" to 0 in physical constants.
This will stop the light from flying away.
Next go and check what id number your dying sequence has (#x [sequence name]) in your shapes file. Apply this number to your monster's dying soft and hard sequence.
Repeat the procedure with your soft/hard dead sequence.
Shapes
The only thing you'll need to make sure here is that "ticks per frame" times "frames per view" is equal to the "transfer mode period".
Example:
ticks/frame=4
frames/view=4
transfer mode period=16
These values, by the way, are pretty good as you're already got 4 frames/view. It will make the whole dying sequence play in 16 ticks (0.5 seconds).