By Dan Nephin
The Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday to remember five children who died in a row house fire, while investigators tried to determine whether they were left alone or in the care of a baby sitter.
Five hearses brought two white, two pink and one blue casket to Pittsburgh’s Mount Ararat Baptist Church. They held the bodies of Daekia Holyfield, 7; Cedano Holyfield, 4; Dezekiah Holyfield, 3; Azquel Rankin, 5; and Andre Rankin, 6.
The Rev. William H. Curtis said in his eulogy that despite the questions surrounding the children’s deaths, now is not the time for blame.
“What does it matter? Five angels have died,” Curtis said. “Who cares what happened and how it happened ... it is our children who died.”
The church is not far from where officials say Tuesday’s blaze began after children playing with matches set fire to furnishings in the living room on the second floor. The five children were found in an adjoining bedroom dead from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Two 8-year-old boys escaped uninjured.
Police said they were told the children were left in the care of a 17-year-old baby sitter while their mothers went out for the night. Police, however, haven’t located her and have said longtime residents told them they know of no one who fits the description given by one of the dead children’s mothers.
No charges have been filed.
Shakita Mangham, 25, mother of the Holyfields, has hired an attorney.