IL - Child, 9, charged in fire deaths of 5 people, Goodfield, 6 Apr 2019

[imstilla.grandma]

Katrina Alwood and her son Kyle were able to escape. They were transported to OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria for treatment and then were released.

“It was surreal, it was just a fire ball when we got over here. Flames were shooting out from the center of the home. I’ve deteriorated over my head all night long just children crying and moms crying for their babies. It’s horrible, ” said Annamarie, a neighbor.

The Goodfield community is rallying together to provide support to the family monetarily and emotionally.

Goodfield Elementary School principal, Randal Berardi, said they live in a tight-knit community and is confident that the family will be surrounded with love and support.

“…When something happens to any familty it is felt throughout the community and this is no different it’s been very painful for the family and the community as a whole,” Berardi said.
Woodford County coroner talks Goodfield fire autopsy results; Facebook donation set up for survivors

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“Whatever caused it, whoever caused it doesn’t change the fact that lives were lost. Heaven found a few new angels,” Anna Marie Siebert, a neighbor, said Thursday.

A juvenile is being questioned in the case, according to a statement issued by Coroner Tim Ruestman. "It is believed that the fire was intentionally started. The manner of the five deaths will be ruled as homicide," he said.

State’s Attorney Greg Minger said DCFS is involved in issues unrelated to the fire.

Officials rule fatal Goodfield deaths homicides; fire intentionally set

 

[Betty P]

Something to keep in mind is that all mobile homes burn extremely fast. Like within less than 5 minutes or so.
As opposed to a "stick built" home, mobile homes are built to be lightweight so they can be transported over highways.

A 9 yo kid playing with fire wouldn't understand how quickly the fire would spread.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Something to keep in mind is that all mobile homes burn extremely fast. Like within less than 5 minutes or so.
As opposed to a "stick built" home, mobile homes are built to be lightweight so they can be transported over highways.

A 9 yo kid playing with fire wouldn't understand how quickly the fire would spread.

Yes. I was thinking the same thing. The 9 yr old was taken to the hospital along with his mother. She had to be quick to get to him and pull themselves to safety. I wonder where the fire instigated in location to the family members.

 

[Kakidoll]

Oh, there is going to be more found out about this i think. Those poor little ones. SOOO sad.

 

[LietKynes]

The oldest victim is his great-grandmother, the male victim is either the father or the stepfather, two of the babies are his siblings, and the other baby is his cousin. The other person who survived was his mom.

LBM

She might have some insight. no one would know him better.
I'm assuming he lived with her primarily ?
If the adult male was a stepdad, did he live with his dad part time ?
Charged him with murder.
What an unspeakable tragedy.
Do they think he meant for them to die ?
If so, will years of treatment help him ?
I'd like to think so. He's too young to be a lost cause.

Eta : But some are born bad. So who knows ? I think he'll get treatment and help -- after a certain age he'll be responsible for his choices. It's not as if he'll be locked up for the remainder of his days.

 

[gitana1]

Since they won’t say how he is related to the people that died, if he wasn’t related at all can his parents be held liable in anyway since he started a fire that resulted in loss of life and property damage?

Absolutely.

 

[gitana1]

I agree with you about that Santa statement---I don't know any 9 yr olds who believe Santa is real. Most 5 and 6y yr olds begin to figure it out, when they begin asking 'h0w does that work that he goes to every kid's house in one night?'

And most 9 yr olds know that people die and it is final, in whatever way they can process it.

I do believe, that if this 9 yr old set that trailer home on fire, knowing those people were inside, he knew they were going to burn up. JMO

As to the abuse question, that might be true. But why kill the 2 toddlers and the 1 yr old?

I don't know. Sometimes they think they're saving them from a bad life. Or they were treated well and are seen as unworthy of life. Or maybe this kid couldn't get to them in time and tried to. Or they're just so disturbed at this point they're just so homicidal they don't care. Kill them all.

 

[gitana1]

How was this fire started? Does anyone know the details of it? It might even be posted somewhere and with the horror of the details I might have over looked them. Just to give an understanding of how a 9 year old thinks... I was molested for years by my own grandfather. When I turned 10 I started blackmailing him in to leaving me alone. I told him if he touched me again I would tell. That's all I'll say about that but from that I thought it was finished with and things would be alright. My thinking as that 10 year old was not even as an adult but as a child who didn't realize the had just increased 100 fold.

This child does not have the ability to think like an adult. I have a real hard time believing he even has the capability to think like a 14 year old yet.

These are just my own opinions.

I agree with that. They don't have the same cognitive ability.

I'm moved by 10 year old you trying so bravely to protect yourself. I wish I could give you a hug. I wish I could have rescued your 10 year old self.

 

[gitana1]

I am not going to cry over him. Sounds like nothing serious can happen to him because if his tender age anyway. Even with the charges.

Yeah but society should worry hard about his or her future. This child has to be super desperate and disturbed to do this. I hope there's a chance of intensive help.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I am not going to cry over him. Sounds like nothing serious can happen to him because if his tender age anyway. Even with the charges.

I might. Pending details:
*State’s Attorney Greg Minger said DCFS is involved in issues unrelated to the fire.

 

[gitana1]

I agree that the knowledge of who is really Santa and the finality of death exist by age 9. I also agree he needs some in depth, residential help, counseling, etc.

I disagree with your thought of kids killing parents only occurs when “heavy abuse” is occurring. We have a 13yo son who has been hospitalized and is currently in weekly counseling. While he has never acted on it, he has admitted to homicidal thoughts. He is adopted and has a trauma background. However, he has experienced -0- abuse since coming to us at age 11 months. We don’t even spank!

True but thinking and doing are two different things. I read a book by a psychologist who had examined every contemporary case of kids murdering parents he could find. Every last child had been severely abused. Even if that hadn't come out in the defense.

You are a very special person to make a child with a hopeless background part of your family. May the security of your love help heal him.

 

[borndem]

The oldest victim is his great-grandmother, the male victim is either the father or the stepfather, two of the babies are his siblings, and the other baby is his cousin. The other person who survived was his mom.

OMG
Why? What, if anything, was going on in that house?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I agree that the knowledge of who is really Santa and the finality of death exist by age 9. I also agree he needs some in depth, residential help, counseling, etc.

I disagree with your thought of kids killing parents only occurs when “heavy abuse” is occurring. We have a 13yo son who has been hospitalized and is currently in weekly counseling. While he has never acted on it, he has admitted to homicidal thoughts. He is adopted and has a trauma background. However, he has experienced -0- abuse since coming to us at age 11 months. We don’t even spank!

 

[gitana1]

This kid has/had a YouTube channel, where he posted videos. He seems like a normal kid, singing baby shark and doing the Fortnite dance moves. I'm not sure if I can post the link to the channel, but it's not hard to find.

Wow. What happened. I found it. It's under his name and easy to locate.

 

[gitana1]

There was a duplicate thread that I just posted in, so wanted to share my thoughts here too.

Wow So sad and what a quandry it puts the courts in.

What I cant figure out is the relationship of the child suspect to the victims. Like was he staying with them or was he a neighbors kid or something ?

Whatever the relationship it seems that LE must have determined he set the fire on purpose because otherwise it would have been declared an accident. So it seems obvious the 9 year old set the fire on purpose IMO.

Im sure the 9 year old did not fully understand the permanent result of his actions. IMO I think sometimes young children like that do understand they may kill someone but I dont think they fully comprehend the finality and the impact of doing that. They definitely do not foresee all the permanent damage they have caused other relatives and other people.

I dont know if its just me or not but I have concluded that in the past 30 years or so, it seems that perpetrators of violent crime and murders seem to be getting younger and younger age. About 20 or 30 years ago we always heard about teens that could do these sorts of things and nowadays it has gotten into single digit age and lower double digit numbers like 10-12 year olds even.

20 or 30 years ago I do not recall so many really young people being charged with adult type crimes. Maybe it was always there and we just didnt hear about it as much because of not having internet. That is a possibility.
But one thing I am convinced of is that gang members have become younger and younger. These days it is not uncommon to see very young kids in gangs.

Just sad all the way around. We have to do better as a society to influence young kids in the right path of life.

We've had young murderers since the conception of our nation. I got my bachelor's in American Studies and have read a lot of books like the Diary of Martha Ballard who was a colonial era midwife in Maine who wrote about things she observed and the historians then dig through news reports at the time and fleshed out what she said. Holy smokes. Another one is Wisconsin Death Trip, a grim little coffee table book compiling entries in the late 1890's from mental hospitals and news reports of the era (along with lots of photos). Horrible stories from only two areas in a limited time period. Filled with horrible stuff.

Seems there's many more murders by kids now but our population is exponentially larger.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Alwood lost her fiance, two children, niece and grandmother in the fire.

She shared a news story about the murder charges on her Facebook page Tuesday, writing, "I would appreciate if everyone would stop the hate comments he's only nine he needs help he's just a baby so please stop."

​

No child as young as this one has been accused in a mass killing since at least 2006, according to the AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern University mass murder database, which tracks all U.S. homicides since then in which four or more people were killed, not including the offender.

There are 14 offenders under the age of 18 in the database. The youngest offenders were 15, and there were four of them, involved in: two family shootings, one public shooting and a gang-related attack.

Betsy Clark, president of the Juvenile Justice Initiative in Illinois, highlighted the "extraordinary timing" of this case.

On Tuesday, the United Nations released its first-ever study of children deprived of liberty. The report recommends that no child under the age of 14 should be prosecuted for a crime.

"Documented evidence in the fields of child development and neuroscience indicates that maturity and the capacity for abstract reasoning is still evolving in children age 12 to 13 years due to the fact that their frontal cortex is still developing. Therefore, they are unlikely to understand the impact of their actions or to comprehend criminal proceedings," the report says.

"These are elementary-school-age children. They don't belong in any kind of prison or detention. They deserve services and rehabilitation, not punishment," Clark said.

Under Illinois law, a suspect younger than 10 cannot be detained, and the minimum age to sentence a minor to juvenile state prison after trial is 13.

In 2017, hundreds of minors under the age of 14 were admitted to juvenile detention in Illinois, including: 32 people ages 10-11, 555 people ages 12-13, and 2,879 people ages 14-15, according to a report from the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission.
'Extremely uncommon': 9-year-old charged with murder after 5 die in Illinois fire

 

[borndem]

I just can't believe this little kid set fire to the home with intent to kill anyone. Could he have been playing with something he shouldn't have? Like a lighter or matches? But if that was the case he wouldn't have been charged with all of those charges, would he?

I assume the firefighters have already ruled the fire as non-accidental.
I assume an investigation will ensue where they try to trace where the fire started, etc. Was there a kerosene heater in the house? Was there a gas leak in the house? Faulty wiring?
If the starting place is determined, was there an accelerant? If so, what was it? Dry grass or leaves, paper, oily rags, or other things that might not indicate that someone was trying to set the home afire? Was a can of gas or kerosene used, and if so, was it moved from where it was usually kept, or was it stored near where the fire started? Would they be able to tell if it was started purposefully? And so on...
Where was the suspect when the fire started?

 

[Kakidoll]

Alwood lost her fiance, two children, niece and grandmother in the fire.

She shared a news story about the murder charges on her Facebook page Tuesday, writing, "I would appreciate if everyone would stop the hate comments he's only nine he needs help he's just a baby so please stop."

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No child as young as this one has been accused in a mass killing since at least 2006, according to the AP/USA TODAY/Northeastern University mass murder database, which tracks all U.S. homicides since then in which four or more people were killed, not including the offender.


'Extremely uncommon': 9-year-old charged with murder after 5 die in Illinois fire

Her FB posts from before and after just don't sit right with me, not including the one you posted. Something is off. JMO.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“Mobile homes are built thinner and plus with the skirting instead of a foundation you have an updraft which is going to feed a fire. It’s like comparing a piece of paper burning and a piece of tissue burning.” said Anna Marie Siebert, a long time resident.

“You gotta remind people all the time don’t take these things for granted because you don’t know.” It’s a lot of healing for everyone in the community and that family is going to have to do a lot of healing too.” said Siebert.

The manager of the trailer park was given the okay by Woodford County officials to tear down the mobile home but said he will wait for the investigation to finish.

The Woodford County Chief Deputy said the investigation is still on going with a lot of evidence still to process. He said it is a sensitive case and too soon for any formal statement to be made about the juvenile being questioned.

Deaths in Goodfield fire ruled homicide – neighbors react