A mother-of-three was discovered stabbed to death inside an apartment ravaged by a fire that killed one of her children.
Firefighters responded to the fire early Tuesday at the Countryside Apartments and were faced with ‘heavy smoke and flames upon arrival’, according to the Daytona Beach Fire Department.
They found the deceased mom and rushed her three kids to a hospital in critical condition.
The youngest child, an infant, was found in a crib close to the mother and died. The two other kids, aged 4 and 5, survived but the nature of their injuries and conditions were not immediately known.
‘This is a horrific incident two days out from a holiday that centers around family,’ Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young said at the scene.
The mother’s identity has not been released, pending notification to her family.
Cops are investigating the fire that started around midnight as a homicide because it had two points of origin in the home, said Daytona Beach Fire Department Lt Antwan Lewis.
State investigators suspect the blaze was set off intentionally, WKMG reported.
No suspect has been named.
A police officer received treatment for smoke inhalation.
‘I’m very proud of all the officers that initially responded, as well as fire and medical personnel,’ said Young. ‘If it wasn’t for their actions, there probably would have been more lives lost.’
It was not clear if other units at the apartment complex at 1200 Beville Road were damaged.
The deadly blaze in Florida happened a few months after a landlord in Brooklyn, New York, allegedly set fire to an apartment because the tenants stopped paying rent. The parents tossed four of their children to neighbors on the ground to save them. Firefighters rescued the two other children from the building. The landlord, Rafiqul Islam, 66, was charged with eight counts of attempted murder, assault and arson earlier this month.
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