KALAMAZOO, Mich.– Several desperate 911 calls flooded dispatchers in Kalamazoo the day that three young children were killed in an apartment fire.
Shortly after flames broke out at Interfaith Homes on the city’s north side the calls started coming in.
Neighbors and callers were stunned as they realized that small children were trapped inside. When firefighters arrived, smoke and flames were pouring out of the windows of the apartment building.
Inside, firefighters discovered the bodies of three children: twins Tevin and Ty’nitha Williams, 3, and a 1-year-old little girl, Tyonna Henderson.
Investigators believe the children were left home alone.
FOX 17 has uncovered the children’s mother, Jonetta Woods, has had at least one run in with Child Protective Services regarding a child neglect case. According to police reports, workers at the apartment complex where Woods was living in June 2009 discovered a one-year-old baby girl left inside her apartment alone for about an hour.
Workers said the baby was crying and sweating profusely. The air conditioning was not on inside the apartment, despite temperatures reaching 96 degrees that day.
Woods was later found and claimed she had only left the baby for 5 minutes to go charge a cell phone.
Child Protective Services told FOX 17 that workers cannot comment on the case because it’s confidential.
Woods also reported a domestic dispute in 2008 where she told police she was assaulted by her baby’s father.
Kalamazoo Public Safety and fire investigators continue to look into what caused the fire, and whether any criminal charges should be filed.
