WTF Update: Sibling Intentionally Sets Loganville House Fire That Kills 10YO Sister

[Sugar Cookie]

The death of a 10-year-old girl in a Loganville house fire is now being investigated as a homicide, the Gwinnett County Police Department said. According to police, the fire was intentionally set by a sibling of the deceased.

Original

A 10-year-old girl died in an early morning fire on Sunday in Loganville, authorities said. A 15-year-old who they suspected to be inside was found safe hours later at a separate location.

Gwinnett County firefighters responded just before 5 a.m. to a home along Beaver Road.

Gwinnett fire spokesman Lt. Justin Wilson said there was one adult inside and four kids at the time of the fire, Wilson said. Two cats also died and two dogs got out alive.

"Efforts continued for the next couple hours to sift through debris to locate the 15-year-old male that was believed to be inside, Wilson said. "Around 9 a.m., the 15-year-old was located away from the scene and appeared to be okay."

The cause of the fire remains under investigation and the single-story home is considered to be a total loss. According to a family member, smoke alarms are installed in the home, but they did not activate.

Sibling intentionally sets Gwinnett house fire that kills 10-year-old girl, police say

It happened off Beaver Road in Loganville.

www.11alive.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Zoe MCcue

 

[BuffettGirl]

Well this is going to make the holidays awkward for the foreseeable future...

 

[Freyja]

I wonder how long the suspect has been planning this and what kind of history does he have? He probably has a history of hurting others and animals but the parents were probably in denial. And he burned down the very roof over his head.

 

[GoneWest]

I wonder how long the suspect has been planning this and what kind of history does he have? He probably has a history of hurting others and animals but the parents were probably in denial. And he burned down the very roof over his head.

And possibly deactivated the fire alarms. Idk but it sure seems suspicious that none of them went off. If that’s the case then this is beyond evil.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 15-year-old boy at the center of an arson investigation in unincorporated Loganville is now facing murder charges. The house fire that happened early Easter Sunday morning killed one of his five siblings.

The teen, whose name has not been released, was charged malice murder and felony murder. A charge for first-degree arson is expected, police said. It’s unclear whether the teen will be charged as a juvenile or adult. Police officials said he was taken to the county’s youth detention center, but it’s up to the district attorney’s office to make that call.

"This is a horrible situation—especially when it’s a 15-year-old that’s involved and a sibling that’s related during the fire. It’s a very tragic event," Gwinnett County Police Department spokesperson Hideshi Valle said Monday.

15-year-old facing murder charges in Loganville arson that killed 10 year-old sister

A 15-year-old boy at the center of an arson investigation in unincorporated Loganville is now facing murder charges. The house fire that happened early Easter Sunday morning killed one of his five siblings.

www.fox5atlanta.com

 

[Hermy]

And possibly deactivated the fire alarms. Idk but it sure seems suspicious that none of them went off. If that’s the case then this is beyond evil.

The batteries had probably not been changed since the Nixon administration.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

This teen has caused so much destruction.

What ever the reason he did it will not bring any comfort to his family.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Allegations of abuse and neglect against children were raised in court on Monday after a little girl died in a house fire and her 15-year-old brother is accused of starting it.

Gwinnett County firefighters were called to a house fire before 5 a.m. on Easter Sunday. As the flames grew, there was one adult and four kids inside the home, fire authorities said.

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services is trying to place the three other kids who lived in the house in protective custody, accusing the parents of neglect and abuse. The agency said the kids have not been able to go outside the home for years.

In court documents, DFCS states it believes the other three children are in danger. The agency claims they haven’t been in school for years and hadn’t showered in months -- and the allegations don’t stop there.

“I haven’t seen her for a long time cause they locked themselves in the house because of coronavirus," the grandfather of the 10-year-old killed said. He said he lives less than two miles away from his son and his family in Loganville.

Documents add the children have not been in school in years and as the home has no sewage system, the children were using buckets to relieve themselves.

The new allegations were revealed during a protective custody hearing Monday afternoon. Complaints filed through the agency state this is likely to happen again if the children aren’t removed.

“She was a cute little girl, blond hair blue eyes, she was sweet,” the grandfather said about his granddaughter who died in the house fire.

Her 15-year-old brother is now accused of felony murder and malicious murder for allegedly setting the fire that caused her death. Authorities said a first-degree arson charge is pending.

Relieving themselves with buckets, children unable to shower for months | State files complaint against parents following deadly Gwinnett house fire

The child's 15-year-old sibling is accused of murder after allegedly setting the fire.

www.11alive.com

 

[Satanica]

I can understand a cry for help, but why endanger you siblings?

 

[BuffettGirl]

I can understand a cry for help, but why endanger you siblings?

I'm really hoping that something just got out of control during this cry for help and that it turns out to have been a giant accident.

 

[Freyja]

Usually when it comes to stuff like setting fires, I think of the MacDonald Triad (sociopathy triad of setting fires, cruelty to animals and bedwetting), but I am wondering if he set the fire to get himself and his siblings out of that situation and it went horribly wrong?

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Rockdale County police are giving new insight into the state of mind of a 15-year-old boy accused of burning down his family’s home and killing his 10-year-old sister.

The fire broke out at a home on Beaver Road in Loganville early Easter morning.

The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office said that on April 17 around 8:30 a.m., deputies arrived at a church in Conyers in reference to a runaway.

When Corporal Banks arrived at Bethel Christian Church, he found the boy to be acting bizarre and distressed.

Banks used crisis intervention strategies to talk to the boy, who told him that he started a fire at his home in Loganville.

Rockdale deputies then called Gwinnett County police and confirmed they were conducting an arson investigation.

The child was transferred into the custody of Gwinnett County police.

Gwinnett County police have since launched an investigation into potential child abuse at the home.

A total of five children lived at the home, ranging in age from 8 - 17.

The 15-year-old is being held in a regional youth detention facility as his parents face a fight to keep their three remaining children.

State investigators said the children lived in deplorable conditions for years, and they believe that treatment will likely recur if they are allowed to remain at home.

A state investigator wrote an affidavit to take the three remaining children — ages 17, 12 and 8 — into state custody, saying, “The children have not been in school in years, the home has no sewage system, the children have been using buckets to relieve themselves, and none of the children have had a shower in possibly months. It is unclear how the children are impacted, as they have not been outside the home in years.”

Siblings lived in filth, rarely left home before 15-year-old set fire, killing sister, state says

State officials said the siblings were often locked in their room and there was limited food.

news.yahoo.com

Some of the information is the same as a previous post.

While what the boy did is inexcusable I do hope they are watching him closely and are addressing his mental state.

 

[Mountaineer95]

Is it possible the boy didn’t set the fire, but rather an abusive adult did? And either are trying to set him up without his knowledge, or convinced him to take the blame because “he’s a kid and won’t get into any trouble“ over it?

 

[GoneWest]

Is it possible the boy didn’t set the fire, but rather an abusive adult did? And either are trying to set him up without his knowledge, or convinced him to take the blame because “he’s a kid and won’t get into any trouble“ over it?

Not sure what the point of that would have been. Doubt the parents wanted anything to happen that would draw attention to their deplorable existence. They seemed to be doing a good job of keeping things under the radar.

 

[Mountaineer95]

Yeah, you’re probably right. I mean, insurance maybe, but I’m not sure these people sound like homeowners who would keep their insurance up to date. Unless they wanted to get that insurance. Right around when I made that post I was watching the episode of Forensic Files where a dad murdered his 11 YO son (on whose life he had 80k in life insurance) and set the house on fire to cover it (and prob to get THAT insurance also). So my mind went there.

 

[Alxprkrkrls]

I can understand a cry for help, but why endanger you siblings?

I think teenagers don’t have the brain development at times for good decision making/consequences. Especially if this kid has been locked inside for 2 years. Very sad.
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Usually when it comes to stuff like setting fires, I think of the MacDonald Triad (sociopathy triad of setting fires, cruelty to animals and bedwetting), but I am wondering if he set the fire to get himself and his siblings out of that situation and it went horribly wrong?

Not to be confused with the McDonald’s Triad, a Big Mac, fries and a coke.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Georgia social workers say that before a Gwinnett home burned down, killing a 10-year-old girl inside, it was a “house of horrors” where the children didn’t even know how to use toilet paper.

The home on Beaver Road in Loganville burned down earlier this month after a 15-year-old boy set it on fire. A ten-year-old girl who was trapped in a windowless bedroom was killed.

The boy was initially arrested on arson and murder charges, but his parents are now being investigated on child abuse charges.

Channel 2 Action News filed an open records request with the state to obtain records on any previous contact the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services had with the family.

Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Tony Thomas sorted through the state records showing that workers with the Department of Children and Family services had previous contact with the family.

DFCS records show the family faced a child abuse complaint in 2015. A child told a teacher his father had pushed him down in the yard. Investigators ruled the charge unsubstantiated because of a lack of evidence. Case workers also found the home “clean and sanitary” with “plenty of food.”

Workers learned of a much different situation after the fire. “There was evidence the children were not able to leave the home for years. There are allegations of no adequate food,” said the 15-year-old’s attorney, Yari Lawson. “He’s not had much contact with his peers or family for years,” Lawson added.

A total of five children ages 8 to 17 lived at the home before the 10-year-old’s death.

A juvenile court judge is considering permanently taking the children into state custody.

Children who lived in home that burned, killing 10-year-old, didn’t know how to use toilet paper

DFCS workers said there was evidence that they hadn't been allowed to leave the house for years.

news.yahoo.com

 

[sgr1966]

This is just so WTF.
It seems like he was reaching out for help bit he so stunted in growth, he did a horrible thing.

 

[thuumpr]

set fire to the prison...

 

[thuumpr]

View attachment 75890

After 10-Year-Old Girl Died in Easter House Fire Allegedly Set by Brother, Police Turn Attention to Parents and Abuse Claims

A young girl lies dead, killed in a house fire allegedly set by her elder brother. Now officers are looking for their parents, saying the children lived in squalid conditions.

lawandcrime.com

Did they ever find these two? If not, give me some hope they don't find them alive.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A young girl lies dead, killed in a house fire allegedly set by her elder brother. Now officers are looking for their parents, saying the children lived in squalid conditions. Father William Linn McCue, 47, and mother Carina Wisniewski McCue, 38, are wanted on charges of first-degree cruelty to children, second-degree cruelty to children, and false imprisonment, Gwinnett County police spokeswoman Officer Hidehsi Valle said in a press release obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Their 15-year-old son allegedly set fire to their home on Beaver Road early on April 17, Easter Sunday, killing sister Zoe McCue, 10. He made his way to a church in nearby Rockdale County, where he confessed to the arson, police said. The teenager faces charges including murder, but the ensuing investigation allegedly turned up evidence of other crimes involving the McCue parents.

Zoe was found dead in a windowless bathroom, police said. Officers claimed there was a makeshift bed in the bathtub, officers said. The actual toilets in the home were out of commission, with the septic tank either full or not working, Valle said. Cops instead found what they described as an “improvised camping-style toilet” in the residence, she said. The showers and bathtubs also allegedly appeared to be broken. Cops noted that water from the kitchen sink was redirected to a five-gallon bucket on the floor.

The McCue parents were last known to be at the Hometown Suites in the Gwinnett County city of Lawrenceville. They were driving a white 2017 Honda According bearing the Georgia license plate CHB7385. They were last seen driving this in the Gwinnett County City of Norcross near the intersection of Oakbrook Parkway and I-85 North.

The couple’s three other children are in state protective custody, officers said.

After 10-Year-Old Girl Died in Easter House Fire Allegedly Set by Brother, Police Turn Attention to Parents and Abuse Claims

A young girl lies dead, killed in a house fire allegedly set by her elder brother. Now officers are looking for their parents, saying the children lived in squalid conditions.

lawandcrime.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Two Gwinnett County parents who had been on the run since one of their children died in a house fire on Easter Sunday have been arrested.

William Linn McCue, 47, and Carina Wisniewski McCue, 38, were arrested Wednesday somewhere along the Appalachian Trail.

The McCues were arrested and taken to the Gwinnett County police department. They have both been charged with Cruelty to Children and are being held without bond.

It’s unclear if they face additional charges.

Parents who vanished after fire killed 10-year-old found living on Appalachian Trail, arrested

Investigators initially arrested her older brother on arson charges, but later found that the couple’s five children had been living in squalor with no running water.

news.yahoo.com

 

[thuumpr]

Good riddance!

 

[Alxprkrkrls]

This story reminds me of Madame LaLaurie from New Orleans, she tortured her slaves in horrific ways and kept them chained in the attic. One day during a party at her mansion in the French Quarter a fire broke out and when the fire brigade came they found a naked slave chained to the stove in the kitchen. She had started the fire on purpose to save herself and the others trapped in the home. I wonder if that’s what this kid tried to do.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A Gwinnett County jury convicted 51-year-old William Linn McCue of felony murder, rape, aggravated child molestation and incest in connection with his daughter’s death as well as years long abuse of the girl and her siblings, the district attorney’s office said.

McCue was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole, a fourth life sentence as well as an additional 120 years in prison.

In June 2022, McCue and his wife Carina Wisniewski McCue were arrested on the Appalachian Trail after their daughter, Zoey, died in a Loganville house fire on Easter Sunday.

Carina McCue pled guilty to first-degree cruelty to children, aggravated assault and false imprisonment and agreed to testify against her husband. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison, the district attorney’s office said.

Investigators discovered that the 10-year-old girl had been sleeping on a wooden board balanced on a bathtub in a windowless bathroom. She died in that spot during the fire.

It was determined that the fire was started by her 15-year-old brother.

The other children in the family had evidence of abuse when they were examined by doctors after the fire. One child had healing lacerations on his back that he said were left by a belt and another little boy had a human bite mark on his inner thigh.

Loganville man convicted in death of daughter locked in bathroom during house fire

A Loganville man on trial for the 2022 death of his 10-year-old daughter has been convicted, the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office said.

www.atlantanewsfirst.com

The murder charges against the 15-year old brother were dropped. However during testimony it was disclosed that he knew his sister was locked in the room. The arson charges remained.

The decision by prosecutors to ultimately drop the murder charges came down to a mix of legal definition, the "duress" of extreme torture, and where the ultimate legal blame belonged:

1. Proximate Cause and the "House of Horrors"
In Georgia law, prosecutors must look at what is called the proximate cause of a death. While the son physically lit the match, investigators determined that the parents' actions created the fatal environment. [1]

• The sister did not die from the fire itself; she died of smoke inhalation because she was locked inside a windowless bathroom from the outside by the parents.
• She was legally trapped in a makeshift prison. Had she been in a normal bedroom, she likely could have escaped the house alongside her siblings. The law placed the responsibility of her entrapment entirely on William and Carina McCue.

2. Lack of Malice (Intent)
To convict a juvenile of murder, the state has to prove malice—that the teenager intended to kill his sister or acted with total disregard for her life.

• The investigation revealed the 15-year-old was experiencing severe, long-term torture (including being shocked with dog collars and beaten). [1]
• His stated intent in starting the fire was a desperate, panicked attempt to force an escape from the home or trigger an emergency response that would rescue them. Because his psychological state was driven entirely by severe abuse, prosecutors ruled out the malicious intent required for a murder charge.

3. The Arson Charge Addressed the Action [1]
Dropping the murder charges did not mean the son faced zero accountability. By keeping the first-degree arson charge, the juvenile justice system still held him legally responsible for the dangerous act of setting the fire, while shifting the blame for the actual loss of life to the parents who orchestrated the horrific living conditions.

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