x
Breaking News
More () »

'His life was cut so short' | One child, one adult killed in Lithia Springs house fire

LITHIA SPRINGS, Ga. — One child and one adult were killed in a house fire late Monday night.

Douglas County Fire identified the victims as 10-year-old Jermaude Earl and 28-year-old Stacie Williams. The two were cousins.

The mother of the 10-year-old, Holli Walker, told 11Alive that Earl was a twin but she had lost the other twin in the NICU. The twins were born prematurely.

According to the Dir. of Communications and Community Relations for the Douglas County Fire Department, Rick Martin, two firefighters were also injured in the fire and transported but are expected to be okay.

The fire started at 9:30 p.m. at a residence on the 500 block of Boulder Park Drive, according to Douglas County Fire dispatch.

Shai Walker, who is the brother of Earl, said, "He was amazing. The most humble little kid. So outgoing and he loved basketball, that was all he ever talked about was basketball this, basketball that. He was so happy.”

Walker has no relation to Williams.

Mike Richardson, who is captain of the Red Cross team who was dispatched to assist residence of the fire states how difficult it is for anyone when someone loses their life in a fire, "Oh, it’s extremely difficult. It’s difficult when you talk about anyone who dies in a horrible situation like tonight when they were asleep and just could not wake up to get away from the fire. It’s a very touching thing when you see mothers and grandmothers crying, everybody cries over the death of a child. And it’s so unfortunate that his life was cut so short so quick.”

One neighbor, Willie Mason, claims he and another neighbor, Mr. Ricky, attempted to save the two who were taken to the hospital when their grandmother alerted them to the fire.

According Mason, Ms. Ruby, one of the residents of the home that was on fire, came knocking on his door to let him know about the fire.

Mason saw that Ms. Ruby and one of her grandsons were outside already but two of Ms. Ruby’s grandchildren were still inside.

According to Mason, he and another neighbor, Mr. Ricky, attempted to enter into the burning home through the front door but it was too hot, so both men went to the back door and successfully kicked it in.

Mason then said he attempted to crawl underneath the smoke in order to save the two who were still trapped inside, but claims the smoke was too thick and the fire was too hot.

He then ran back outside of the burning residence and attempted to enter a second time but was unsuccessful.

According to Mason, the victims were 10 and 20 years old.

“It really hurt me, to my heart, that I couldn’t save them. I wanted to save them with all my heart," Mason said. "They were the most sweetest kids. Respectable, with manners. Not seeing them getting off that school bus tomorrow evening, it's going to hurt."

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

Family told 11Alive they will hold a funeral for Trey Saturday, May 19 at 3 p.m. at Willie Watkins Funeral Home in Douglasville.

PHOTOS | Lithia Springs house fire kills 2

Before You Leave, Check This Out