Jacksonville fire kills woman, 4 children

LITTLE ROCK — Jacksonville police and fire officials are investigating the cause of an early morning fire that left a woman and four children dead Thursday.

The 31-year-old woman and the children — an 11-year-old boy and three girls, ages 9, 7 and 4 — were found dead inside a duplex at South Simmons Drive by two maintenance men about 1 1/2 hours after Jacksonville firefighters answered a call there but left when they found no sign of a fire, said Jacksonville Police Capt. Kenny Boyd.

Firefighters arrived at the residence at 5:50 a.m. after the neighbor in the duplex called about smelling smoke.

Jacksonville Fire Battalion Chief Bob Thornton said firefighters used thermal imaging after no one answered the door. The firefighters did not enter the duplex, and the imaging did not detect any sign of a fire inside, Thornton said.

Firefighters “did not find anything, so they left,” Boyd said.

Around 7:30 a.m., the neighbor called building maintenance about the smell, and Tom Vanhoven along with another maintenance man, looked around the duplex and saw “black smoke in the window” of the adjacent dwelling.

Vanhoven said that when no one answered the front door, the two men went in and “found the kids in the bedroom.”

The exterior of the brick building, part of the Jacksonville Housing Authority, was not damaged, but the inside had “a lot of smoke damage,” Boyd said.

Late Thursday evening, Jacksonville police identified the victims as Marilyn Beavers, 30; Dequan Singleton, 10; Sydni Singleton, 9; Haylee Beavers, 6; and Emily Beavers, 4. The Associated Press reported that Marilyn Beavers was the mother of the four children.

Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs said he did not know the cause of the deaths and that the bodies were sent to the state Crime Laboratory. Hobbs said three of the children were found in a bedroom, and the woman and a child were found in the bathroom.

Neighbor Marcus Brown said he saw the victims’ neighbor standing outside her duplex about 6:30 a.m. when he went to the store, but he didn’t smell any smoke or see signs of a fire.

“When I came back, it was blue-light city,” Brown said.

Though he didn’t know the family personally, he said, he had seen the kids playing in the area and knew that the boy “wanted to play football” when he got older.

“Of course, you hate to see that happen, kids home on spring break,” Brown said.

Boyd said the fire had extinguished itself. “There was no active fire” when police arrived at the duplex around 7:35 a.m., after the bodies were discovered.

Police officers and the state fire marshal were still investigating the cause of the fire Thursday afternoon, Boyd said.

As police carried stretchers with small, yellow body bags out of the duplex late Thursday morning, neighbors stood by watching in shock.

“I’ve passed out Popsicles to the kids. I’ve seen them playing around, riding their bikes up and down the sidewalk,” said neighbor James Cribbs. “It’s a sad sight to see.”

For the Jacksonville Fire Department, “it’s been a long week,” Capt. David Jones said, referring to the death of Capt. Donald Jones on Monday. Donald Jones was the first firefighter in that Fire Department to be killed in the line of duty.

Police say Bryce Allen, 47, drove his van at first-responders at the scene of an accident Monday night, killing Jones and severely injuring firefighter Jason Bowmaster and police officer Daniel DiMatteo.

On Tuesday, Allen pleaded innocent to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal attempt to commit second-degree murder.

“We’re doing our job,” David Jones said of how the firefighters are coping.

Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher said the firefighters have “been stretched to the end.”

“Our guys are professionals. They’re obviously mourning the loss of one, like all of us hurting, but yet they realize they have a job to do,” Fletcher said. “It has not distracted from their job performance, and I’m very proud of them.”

However, neighbor Lieux’Rita Green, whose children were friends with the young victims, criticized the Fire Department’s initial response, saying firefighters should have searched the building more extensively.

“If somebody reports an emergency situation, take it serious. Don’t become relaxed, because there are silent killers,” like gas and smoke, Green said. “It’s tragic for those precious kids to lose their lives.”