DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Firefighters in Florida responding to an apartment fire found a woman fatally stabbed, and one of her three young children rescued from the blaze later died, authorities said Tuesday.
The overnight fire occurred shortly before midnight on Monday at the Countryside Apartments, located at 1200 Beville Road in Daytona Beach, WFTV reported.
Firefighters arriving at the apartment observed heavy smoke and entered the residence, according to the television station.
DBFD fought a structure fire at 1200 Beville at 12am. Heavy smoke upon arrival. Found 3 children and 1 adult in the apartment. The infant was in cardiac arrest the adult was deceased. State Fire Marshall was called to investigate.
— DaytonaBeachFireDept (@DaytonaBeachFD) November 21, 2023
They found a 30-year-old woman stabbed to death, and three children, ages 1, 4 and 5, Daytona Beach police Deputy Chief Jennifer Whittet told reporters.
“The mother deceased inside the residence was not from the fire so we are working that as a homicide,” Whittet said.
The youngest child was found in cardiac arrest, WFTV reported. The child was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center of Daytona Beach.
“The youngest child, just under the age of 1, was worked on for quite some time and was pronounced deceased at the hospital,” Whittet told reporters.
Police have not released the baby’s cause of death or the type of injuries and current conditions of the two surviving children, according to The Associated Press.
The surviving children were taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville and were in critical condition, Daytona Beach police Chief Jakari Young said during a news conference on Tuesday.
“This is a horrific incident,” Young said. “We are literally two days out from a holiday that centers around family, and this is what we’re here dealing with this morning.”
An investigation is ongoing.
