Associated Press
GARY, Ind. — A fire official says an apartment fire that killed three young children in the northwest Indiana city of Gary was intentionally set.
Mark Jones, the Gary Fire Department’s chief of operations, said Tuesday that the Dec. 23 fire has been ruled an arson, but an investigation into what started it is ongoing.
The Northwest Indiana Times reports that 2-year-old Yaleah Cohen, 4-year-old Alaya Pickens and 5-year-old Jayden Mitchell were pronounced dead at Oak Knoll Renaissance Apartments early on Dec. 24.
Jones says the children’s mother and a man were taken to a hospital.
Gary fire officials say two of the children were found in a second-floor bedroom, and the third child was found at the top of a stairwell.