Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz announced that charges have been filed against the mother of the three children who died from a house fire in the City of Erie near the end of March.
Charges, including third-degree murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person, have been filed against Danozjna Williams, accusing her of leaving three children at home to make a drug deal when the fire broke out.
Hirz said the three children, 3-year-old Da’Liyla, 5-year-old Tobias Huff and 5-month-old Amirah Al-Mansouri, were found by firefighters in a bedroom upstairs apartment with no adults home at the time of the fire on March 29 in the 500 block of East 26th Street.
Da’Liyla and Tobias were declared dead that same evening at UPMC Hamot, with Al-Mansouri being flown to Pittsburgh for treatment before ultimately succumbing to her injuries on April 3.
“This is a heartbreaking but completely preventable tragedy,” Hirz said. ” The evidence shows these young children were left without supervision in a situation where they needed their mother to protect them and keep them safe. That duty was abandoned, with devastating consequences.”
Search warrants from the Erie Police Department previously stated that investigators believed nobody was home at the time of the fire, with the most recent one claiming Williams was at Walmart when the fire happened, and now DA Hirz alleging the point of that trip was to make a drug deal.
Hirz also thanked first responders for their work during the fire, saying, “We want to commend the courage and professionalism of our firefighters and law enforcement officers. They responded swiftly, battled dangerous conditions and faced the unimaginable task of recovering these young victims. We are incredibly grateful for their service to our community.”
State, local and federal officials are still investigating the fire.
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