3 Youngsters Killed in Fire on Southside

Two young sisters and their brother were killed and an 11-month-old boy was severely burned when they were trapped inside a tiny South-Central Los Angeles house that was ravaged by fire late Thursday.

Three others in the wood-frame house--a 13-year-old boy, a 3-month-old boy and their 47-year-old aunt--escaped serious injury in the blaze, which city fire officials said Friday was of undetermined origin.

The bodies of Teneka Neal, 6, her sister, Lakisha, 5, and their younger brother, Marques, 3, were found in a scorched, makeshift bedroom behind the kitchen of the house, located in a back-yard lot at 719 1/2 E. 87th St.

Baby Critical

All three were the children of Nancy Shelby, 26, whose fourth child, Lamar Florence, 11 months, was rushed to Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital after being rescued by city firefighters from the living room of the gutted residence. The child was later transferred to the burn unit at Torrance Memorial Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition Friday.

Shelby was not home when the fire broke out shortly before 11 p.m. The children were being cared for by their aunt, Quinnetta Stuart, who said Friday that she had fallen asleep before the fire started after taking prescription pills for a blood pressure problem and additional medication for a cold.

The fire was discovered by another nephew, Soko Upshaw, 13, who said Friday that he had been getting ready for bed in his room, a converted closet, when he became aware of the flames, yelled out to the others in the house and ran to an apartment down the block to get help from relatives, including Nancy Shelby and her sister, Denise.

Denise Shelby is the mother of 3-month-old Deante Harrell, who was rescued from the living room and was reported in stable condition at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center.

By the time relatives and firefighters arrived, it was too late to save the three children, whose bodies were found in their beds, authorities said.

Arson investigator Anthony M. LaPalio said Friday that there was no initial indication that the blaze was set but that an investigation into its origin was continuing.

The house apparently had a working smoke detector, LaPalio said, and there were no security bars over the windows to block access to the children. However, Norman Harrell, Deante’s father, said that a door leading outdoors from the bedroom had been nailed shut by the landlord, despite repeated pleas that it be repaired properly. The landlord could not be reached for comment.

Neighbors Gather

As investigators probed the charred house, neighbors and relatives of the victims gathered outside, staring at the burned household remains and exchanging tearful memories of the youngsters.

Denise Shelby sobbed softly as she held an ash-flecked beach ball that had belonged to Teneka. “I gave her this ball,” Shelby said, “and that’s all that she left for me.”

At the apartment down the street, Nancy Shelby, who had grown up on the block where her children died Thursday night, nestled her face in the plush padding of a living room couch as her relatives sought to console her.

“I want my kids. I want my kids,” Shelby sobbed. “I want them back.”