Site of deadly house fire was neighborhood gathering place

CLEVELAND -- Media Carter's house in a low-income neighborhood in east Cleveland was a place where neighborhood kids often stopped by to chat or eat dinner.

Friday night started out that way as friends of Carter's children came over and later decided to stay for a sleepover. But tragedy struck when a fire broke out at the crowded house early Saturday, killing Carter and eight children, fire officials said.

Authorities said Carter, who was in her 30s, lived in the house with her six kids. Eleven people were in the home when the blaze started about 3 a.m., assistant fire chief Brent Collins said.

All nine victims died of smoke inhalation, Cuyahoga County Coroner Dr. Elizabeth Balraj said Sunday. Two people survived, one of whom remained in critical condition.

Officials said the fire at the 99-year-old home appeared to be accidental, but the full investigation into its cause will be completed next week.

Adella Gary, 77, who lives next door, said Sunday that neighbors banged on her door and dragged her out of her house when the fire broke out. Two men carried her husband, who lost a leg to diabetes, down the stairs.

"I heard some popping, some pop-pop-popping, and I thought, 'Somebody's shooting out here,"' she said. "So I opened my window, and when I did I saw a flame burst out" of the house next door.

Community leaders plan to hold nightly vigils until all the bodies are buried, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Sunday. About 200 people gathered outside the charred house Saturday night, some of them holding candles.

The coroner's office identified six of the victims, including Carter; her sons 15-year-old Davonte Carter and 13-year-old Moses Williams; her nephew Antwone Jackson, 14; Jackson's cousin Ernest Tate, 13; and a friend, 13-year-old Miles Cockfield.

The other three victims were identified by the fire department as two of Carter's other children, 12-year-old Maleeya Williams and 7-year-old Fakih Jones, and 12-year-old Chawntavia Mitchell, whose relationship to the family was not immediately clear, fire officials said.

Balraj said the coroner's office was waiting to positively identify those three victims pending DNA tests because the bodies were so badly burned. Fire investigators identified the victims by interviewing family members, said David Fitz, a spokesman for Mayor Jane Campbell.

Assistant Fire Chief David McNeilly said the fire department discovered Sunday that it had incorrectly identified one of the victims the previous day as 34-year-old Sheria Carter, another family member. She was unharmed.

The neighborhood about three miles from downtown Cleveland contains older homes that are rented to lower-income families. Many of the houses have been refurbished, but a few are boarded up.

The American Red Cross will assist with funeral expenses and offer counseling to survivors and neighbors, The Plain Dealer reported.