A single mother in Illinois was charged with five counts for endangering her child after her five children, aged from two to nine years, died in a fire at home. However, many have expressed concern via social media about the case. Here’s everything we know about the heartbreaking case, and why the charges against the mother have been so widely condemned.
Fire Deaths: Single Mother of Five
Sabrina M. Dunigan, 34, was forced to take care of her children after her five children died in a house fire as she picked up her boyfriend from work. charged with five countsEndangering a child. On August 6, Dunigan left her five children in the family’s second-floor apartment in order to pick her boyfriend up from work. Tragically, the fire started in Dunigan’s home at 3:00 AM. taking the lives of Dunigan’s five children.
Dunigan’s parents, Greg and Vanicia Mosely, also lived in the same apartment building in a unit separated from Dunigan’s by a kitchen. The two were home at the time of the fire and revealed in an interview with a local newspaper that they’d fallen asleep while watching the children in their own living space and by the time they woke, the fire had already started.
The cause of this fire is still unknown. Although the flames prevented Greg and Vanicia from reaching their children, they were able escape the burning house through a second-story window. Vanicia is also blind. In a truly heartbreaking twist of irony, all five children passed away on Dunigan’s birthday.
Conflicting Details from Landlords and Neighbors
Though the landlord, a retired police officer, insisted that all his buildings were fitted with smoke detectors, the Dunigan family, as well as a neighbor who lived in the basement unit of the apartment, said that there weren’t. Kenneth Jennings, the neighbor, stated that smoke detectors were not installed in all of his buildings. the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “I thought there was a fight upstairs. I heard a lot commotion, with shouting and hollering. Then I smelled smoke and ran out.”
The charges against Dunigan come more than two months after her children’s death, which some have called particularly cruel. While some responders on social media believed the punishment was fitting, others remarked on the absolute tragic nature of both the senseless deaths of so many children as well as their mother’s cruel treatment.
It is hard to deny that five young lives were lost and that the tragic accident could have been prevented if one of those involved had acted differently. Those involved will replay that night for the rest of their lives, wondering what they could do to save one life. Is this considered justice if the mother is charged in this case? This sad case remains ongoing. We will update as soon as we have more information.
