Boy Who Died of Burns Is Laid to Rest

A 4-year-old Granada Hills boy was buried Tuesday morning, hours before his father pleaded not guilty to charges that he started the fire that killed his son.

Marquise Diantae McDonald was honored by the very profession he aspired to, as more than a dozen uniformed firefighters were among the 125 mourners at his funeral.

He was buried in a Los Angeles Fire Department T-shirt, replica firefighter’s pants and a junior Fire Department badge. A white cross was in his hands.

Marquise died of burns suffered in a July 10 fire allegedly set by his father, Dwayne West, while he was arguing with the boy’s mother, Nicole Taylor. West is accused of pouring a flammable liquid on Taylor’s hair and setting it on fire. She survived, but flames spread through the townhouse where the boy was sleeping, authorities said.

West, 29, could face the death penalty.

“It is a horrible case,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Craig Mitchell, who also attended the funeral. “The impact on the family cannot be overstated.”

Two weeks before his death, Marquise visited a fire station where photos were taken of him playing on a fire engine in oversize boots, yellow fire pants and a blue firefighter’s helmet. The photos were printed on a pamphlet handed out at the service.

Speaking in front of the Old North Church at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in the Hollywood Hills, Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda described the courage of the boy, who asked paramedics about his mother as he was being pulled from the flames.

“He was not concerned about his welfare,” Ruda said. “He was only concerned about his mother.”

Taylor, with scars visible on her forehead, spoke to the media in front of the church before the service.

She called her son “the joy of my life” and said he was “the youngest grandchild and kept our spirits high just by being a busy, bubbly child.”

“The grief is sometimes overwhelming for my family and me. We seek no revenge. . . . We have a strong abiding faith in God,” Taylor said.

Later in the day at his arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court, West stood behind his attorney, wearing jail-issued clothes. Defense attorney Frank Williams Jr. said outside court that West was despondent and puzzled about being in jail, and that he was overwhelmed about possibly facing a death sentence if he is found guilty.

“He understands the gravity of the charges against him,” Williams said. “But to be told in one breath that you could die and then to be told in another breath that your son is dead--that’s a lot to handle.”

Williams said he explained the charges to his client during their first meeting Tuesday, but that they did not get a chance to talk about West’s son. Taylor and West never married and lived separately.

Besides murder and attempted murder, West is charged with torture, child abuse, arson and first-degree burglary. Mitchell said his office will decide soon whether to seek the death penalty.

A trust fund has been set up to help pay hospital bills, Taylor said. Donations may be sent to: Marquise McDonald, Olive View Credit Union, P.O. Box 923071, Sylmar, CA 91392.