A Louisiana father faces murder charges after his three young children died in a fire that he allegedly set intentionally, WDSU-TV reports.
Around 11:55 p.m. Tuesday, a woman in New Orleans called 911 to report that the father of her kids had threatened to burn down their home, as CrimeOnline reported.
“He’s screaming on the phone. I heard the kids screaming,” the distraught mother told dispatchers, according to NBC News. “Y’all have to just break through the door before anything happens, please!”
A fire at the residence was reported a short time later. Crews responded to house, in the 4900 block of America Street in the Seventh District, and found the residence engulfed in flames.
Firefighters rescued an 8-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl from the burning house, but the children were pronounced dead at an area hospital. A third child, who was 3 years old, was found dead.
The mother of the children was not home at the time of the blaze.
Investigators believe the fire was started amid a domestic dispute between the parents of the children and identified their father, Joseph Washington Sr., as the prime suspect responsible for the arson, according to a news release from the New Orleans Police Department.
A home security camera allegedly shows Washington leaving the residence during the fire and driving away, according to WDSU-TV.
Washington’s vehicle was found partially submerged on Wednesday in the Mississippi River in the city of Gretna.
Police later stopped a vehicle Washington was traveling in on Interstate 610. He tried to flee by jumping off an overpass but was arrested.
Washington and the mother of the children married in 2014 and she filed for divorce five years later. The mother, whose identity has not been released, sought a restraining order against Washington in 2018 after she alleged that he choked and hit her repeatedly, including while she held their children.
Court records reveal that Washington previously threatened to kill his former wife and their children. He has convictions for domestic abuse and battery, Fox 8 reports.
While Washington was on the lam, his father, Troy McDonnell, expressed outrage over the deaths of his grandchildren.
“If I catch him, I’m gonna kill him,” McDonnell told the Times-Picayune newspaper, referring to his son.
Prosecutors have charged Washington with three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and one count of aggravated arson.
On Friday, community members gathered to remember the three children and to support the mother, who attended the event. Participants brought balloons, prayed and offered donations.
“Everywhere you go, someone is talking about it. Somebody is talking about it, trying to figure out how could it, the kids couldn’t get out, how could this, could that? But you talk to somebody, and they’re going to have a tear in their eye. It’s brokenhearted around here. It’s really brokenhearted,” vigil organizer Dolores Trotter told WDSU-TV.
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[Feature Photo: Police Handout]
