14 yo Boy Slashes Siblings Throats, Sets House on Fire

[rumaj]

STATEN ISLAND, NY -- Authorities are investigating a house fire that left 5 people dead as a possible murder suicide, with a 14-year old boy as the culprit.

Lisa Jones, 32, a native of Trinidad, Jamaica, died in the blaze along with her four children, C.J, 14, Brittany, 10, Melonie, 7 and Jermaine, 2.

Investigators say the eldest boy, C.J., started the fire inside the family's apartment located at 302 Nicholas Ave.

But before setting the blaze, it appears the troubled teen slashed the throats of two of the younger children and then his own.

Two young girls whose badly burned bodies were found in a front room of the apartment had their throats slit, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

The girls' bodies were found along with that of their mother in the second-floor Staten island apartment.

A 2-year-old boy, who didn't have his throat slashed was found alive but died later at a hospital.

Officials say C.J. was found in a separate room.

Browne said his throat also was slit and there was a razor under his body.

Neighbors described Jones as a hard working woman who was devoted to her children.

Browne said the boy recently had been kicked out of a public pool for setting a fire there and that neighbors described him lighting paper on fire in front his apartment building in recent days.

"We believe the fire was intentionally set and our investigation is continuing," Fire Department spokesman Steve Ritea said.
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

[rumaj]

Updated 6:21 PM
Police: Five Deaths In S.I. House Fire Resulted From Murder-Suicide

By: NY1 News

Police now suspect the Staten Island house fire that killed a mother and her four children today was a murder-suicide, and fire officials believe the blaze was intentionally set.

Fire officials say the blaze broke out around 4:15 a.m. on the top floor of a house at 302 Nicholas Avenue in Port Richmond. The fire quickly spread to the roof and took about an hour-and-a-half to bring under control.

Leisa Jones, 32, died in the blaze, along with her 14-year-old son C.J. Jones, 10-year-old daughter Brittany Jones, seven-year-old daughter Melanie Jones and two-year-old son Jermaine Sinclair.

Sources say at least two of the younger children were found with their throats slit and police found a razor under the body of C.J. Jones.

The two-year-old son was brought to the hospital and declared dead.

Now, police are investigating the possibility that the 14-year-old son set the fire as a murder-suicide attempt.

The city medical examiner's office told the Associated Press that autopsies on all five victims will be held on Friday.

MORE AT: ( WITH VIDEO)
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/122501/police--five-deaths-in-s-i--house-fire-resulted-from-murder-suicide
_________________
"Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're all stocked up here."

Line from the movie As Good As It Gets

[sherry a. smith]

Investigators shift their focus to the mother in the fatal house fire. A lesson in why we should resist quick conclusions.

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-mother-kills-kids-sets-fire,0,5545761.story