Chicago Police investigating deadly West Englewood fire that killed four, including two children, as possible arson

A family in Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood was ravaged by a disaster that caused four members to die and left another two in critical condition. Their house was badly burned and reduced to charred pieces, and now surviving members of the family are claiming that the fire was the result of arson targeting their family.

According to a local Chicago NBC affiliate, a fire at 6204 S. Paulina St. in the early morning of May 20 led to the deaths of Lisa Brown and her husband. Police revealed that the two had severe burns by the time the fire department reached them. Although they were transported to the hospital, they ultimately succumbed to their injuries.

Their son, Antonio Wilson, said, “My family was a family, we stuck together.” He went on to share a little about their family history. Wilson explained that his mother was a longtime foster parent and, on the day of the fire, she had guardianship of at least four children in the house. Among them, Royalty Rattler, 8, and Ja’quan Rattler, 15, also tragically died. Other children in the house were transported to a local hospital and are reportedly in stable condition.

Police are currently investigating who the alleged arsonist could possibly be. Cases like this, with open-ended questions and mystery, can ultimately end up anywhere. Recently, there have been arson cases involving a wide range of motives. A Michigan marijuana dispensary was burned down after a marketing stunt went wrong, while in Tennessee, a man burned down his own mother’s home after she evicted him — and both instances were ultimately ruled arson by authorities. So in this particular case, we’ll have to wait a little longer before getting answers about intentionality and cause.

Wilson, however, is distraught and cannot fathom why anyone would do this. He said, “They didn’t deserve this, her birthday was coming up. These are innocent people that you targeted, for nothing.” Hopefully their family can find answers soon. Nothing can ever heal the loss of a parent, but in situations like this, justice is often the only sure way of getting closure from such tragedies.

As for the firefighters, the people they managed to save from the house witnessed heroics that are increasingly being shown across the country by some of the most dedicated civil workers. Reportedly, when firefighters arrived at the scene, neighbors had already figured out that the only way to save the children was through the windows. And despite that being a highly complex maneuver, they were ultimately able to pull the children out of the ravaging fire.

Chicago police have still not named a suspect, but the investigation remains underway. Authorities did, however, reveal that they found evidence suggesting the fire was started from outside the home, which remains the main telltale sign that foul play was involved. Police are now looking through neighbors’ doorbell camera footage for more information about who — and what — caused the fire.

This is still a developing story as the fire department and police continue their investigation.