Detroit Police Hold Parents in Fire Deaths of Seven Children

Police on Thursday were holding the parents of seven children who died in a fire after being left alone in a house with barred windows, while investigators tried to determine what started the blaze.

The children, ages 7 months to 9 years, died from asphyxiation in Wednesday’s fire in the two-story wooden house on Detroit’s east side, Fire Marshal Richard Milliner said.

Their parents, Sheree Williams, 34, and Leroy Lyons, 35, were held at police headquarters overnight and remained in custody Thursday, Officer Allene Ray said. No charges were filed Thursday.

Police said they planned to send a report on the deaths to the Wayne County prosecutor’s office by today.

An investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thursday that neighbors told authorities they saw Lyons using a torch Wednesday to thaw pipes under the kitchen.

The area where he reportedly was working was in the vicinity of the spot where investigators believe the blaze began, the source said.

Capt. Jon Bozich of the fire department’s arson section said he could not comment on the cause of the fire other than to say it started in the kitchen and appeared to be accidental.

The children had been left unattended for at least 45 minutes, police said, adding that Williams told authorities she had gone grocery shopping.

The four boys and three girls were found in a bedroom in the opposite side of the house from the kitchen. A dresser had been pushed up to the only window without security bars in an apparent attempt by the children to escape. The window otherwise was too high for them to reach, Battalion Chief Harold Watkins said.

Authorities identified the victims as the couple’s children, LaQuinten Lyons, 4; Venus Lyons, 2; and Anthony Lyons, 7 months; Lyons’ son by another woman, Mark Brayboy, 2; and Williams’ children, LaWanda Williams, 9; Nikia Williams, 7, and Dakwan Williams, 6.

The fire marked the third time in 4 1/2 months that people have died in a Detroit house with barred windows. An Oct. 3 fire killed four adults and two children. A woman and child died inside a barred house in November.