Child dies in Detroit house fire; police arrest one
(CBS DETROIT) – Detroit police have arrested a person connected to a house fire on the west side that killed a young boy.
A law enforcement source said although it's early in the investigation, they believe that boy was home alone when the fire broke out Sunday afternoon.
Monday morning, relatives of the young boy dropped off stuffed animals on the front steps of the house on Pilgrim and Lindsay streets, where neighbors would often see him play.
His aunt was too distraught to speak but had more questions than answers.
"I saw some smoke outside. I thought maybe it was a car on fire. And I went to the window, and there was smoke coming out of the right side window of the house; it was barreling smoke. So I dialed 911," a neighbor told CBS News Detroit.
As Detroit firefighters showed up, so did the boy's mother.
"She came running down the street into the neighbor's yard, jumped over the bushes, and she failed and attempted to run into the side door, and the firefighters and staff they stopped her from running in," the neighbor said.
Inside, search crews found the boy dead in a front bedroom where investigators believe the fire began.
"It was just truly sad to know that a boy was in the house, you know, unfortunately, I don't think anyone would have been able to save him in the amount of time that the neighbor did call the police about it," another neighbor said.
According to Detroit police, the little boy was 6 years old, and they had an individual in custody.
A law enforcement source told CBS News Detroit that person is a relative but wouldn't say how exactly they're tied to the case.
The ATF is assisting DPD's arson unit in determining what sparked the fire.
Anyone with information regarding this fire can contact Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up.
