Mom removed seven smoke detectors and started house fire that killed her daughter, cops say
Mom removed seven smoke detectors and started house fire that killed her daughter, cops say
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Seven smoke detectors were removed from the house before the blaze started, according to police. A Michigan mom has been accused of starting a house fire that killed her 12-year-old daughter who was trapped in a bedroom. Roconda Singleton, 46, removed all seven smoke detectors from the house and poured lighter fluid before setting the fire on Saturday morning, according to Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom.
![[The aftermath of a house fire in Grand Rapids that police have pinned to Roconda Singleton, who allegedly started the blaze despite her three young children being in the property]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/20/AP25028596106651.jpg)
"This is a shockingly cruel, unimaginable crime committed by a mom against her three kids," Winstrom added. Shamiya’s sisters, aged seven and 10, survived the blaze. Family members hailed the elder sister as a “hero” for helping her sibling out a house window.
![[Police branded the house fire as “unimaginable,” after it caused the death of a 12-year-old girl]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/20/AP25028596099030.jpg)
“We just thank God for her quick thinking. She’s bruised but she’s here,” Patricia Robinson said of the 10-year-old. “It’s a lot for a young lady to handle at such a young age, but her quick thinking saved their lives,” Robinson’s husband Pastor Chris Robinson said.
![[Brad Brown, Grand Rapids Fire Chiefm said the screams from the house will “live on in our heads for the rest of our lives.”]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/28/20/AP25028596120520.jpg)
Screams from inside the house “will live on in our heads for the rest of our lives,” Grand Rapids Fire Chief Brad Brown said Monday. Roconda Singleton, who was outside the home when police arrived, appeared in court Tuesday on arson and child abuse charges. She doesn’t have a lawyer yet, and a not guilty plea was entered by a judge. Additional charges are likely.
After Shamiya’s death, her father described her as a “fighter.”. “She ain’t deserve this at all. She’s a good child. She’s my special baby. She was in the NICU for four months. It’s hard. It’s hard. It’s hard for me,” dad Lyn Stewart said. “Just keep the family in prayer, please. That’s all I can say.”.
