By Margaret Harding
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
NORTH VERSAILLES, Pa. — Firefighters found the body of 7-year-old Kidonn Pollard-Ford under a pile of clothes in his smoke-clogged bedroom early Thursday. They found 4-year-old Krisdon Pollard unresponsive under a bed.
But they didn’t find an adult watching over the brothers.
“It’s very tragic,” said James Morton, Allegheny County police assistant superintendent. “Somebody’s going to be charged.”
Krisdon was not breathing and was unresponsive when firefighters carried him from the building. He was in critical condition in Children’s Hospital in Lawrenceville.
Fire and smoke filled the third-floor apartment about 2:30 a.m. in the Eastland Apartments building on East Pittsburgh McKeesport Boulevard in North Versailles.
North Versailles police initially couldn’t break through the door’s deadbolt, Chief Vincent DiCenzo Jr. said. Firefighters forced their way in and found Krisdon, and then Kidonn, in the bedroom.
Their mother, Kiaira Pollard, 27, became hysterical when she arrived and was briefly treated in UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, police said.
“It’s a mess, and no one’s doing good,” said her uncle, Melvin Pollard of Baltimore. “We’re dealing with this as a family.”
The fire started in the master bedroom that shares a wall with the boys’ room, said Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Donald Brucker. No accelerants were used, and investigators are trying to determine whether electrical appliances, including a built-in air conditioner, played a role in the cause.
Heavy smoke made it difficult for firefighters to see the boys, Brucker said.
“They had no idea if anyone was in there,” Brucker said. “They couldn’t see their hands in front of their face.”
An autopsy showed Kidonn died of carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning caused by smoke inhalation, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said.
Police officers were initially told Kiaira Pollard was working and a baby sitter was supposed to watch the boys. Morton said police need to interview her and others, but Kiaira was “very distraught” at Children’s Hospital.
“Everything is about the timeline and who was there,” Morton said.
Kiaira Pollard and a woman described by neighbors as her girlfriend, Dayna Kenney, 33, could not be reached for comment.
The boys were beloved among those in the apartment building, neighbor Mark Kukla said.
“When they were outside playing, they brought sunshine,” Kukla said. “They were always smiling.”
Kukla’s daughter, 15-year-old Megan Kukla, said she occasionally baby-sat the two boys.
“If you were mad and they came up and smiled or gave you a hug, it just made your day so much better,” Megan Kukla said. “When my dad told me Kidonn died, I couldn’t go back to sleep. It’s all I kept thinking about.”
Kidonn was supposed to begin second grade this fall at Green Valley Primary School, Principal Sean Gildea said.
“He was a very good kid,” Gildea said. “He was well-liked. He had a lot of friends.”
Gildea said Kidonn earned straight A’s and had the support of his mother.
“If he was a straight-A student, the mom was involved,” Gildea said.
Morton said officers are hearing “all kinds of stories” about why the children were alone.
“We’re trying to determine who left the children at home,” Morton said. “That’s who’s responsible.”
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