COLORADO SPRINGS — A 25-year-old mother is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder after a fire killed her 16-month-old daughter and critically injured four other children, ages 3 to 9.
Maria Joseph was being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center without bond Tuesday in connection with the death of Ashia Joseph, who died of smoke inhalation and burns. The four other children suffered burns and smoke inhalation at the home they rented in northeast Colorado Springs. Police would not say how or where in the home the fire started.
Joseph’s husband, Simeon Joseph, 27, committed suicide in the home last fall. He was found with a gunshot wound to the head Oct. 8, said Dr. Robert Bux, El Paso County coroner. He did not leave a suicide note, Bux said.
The girl’s death will be reviewed by the Colorado Department of Human Services.
“There has been contact with the family in the past five years, so there will be a fatality review of the child’s death,” said Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Human Services.
McDonough said that because of confidentiality issues, she could not say how many child-abuse complaints had been filed, how many social-service visits had been made to the home or what services were provided to the family.
Call made to 911
Colorado Springs police Lt. Skip Arms said someone in the home called 911 at 10:01 p.m. Monday. Police had not determined who made that call. As police and firetrucks began to arrive, Maria Joseph left the home.
A neighbor said Joseph jumped fences and wandered through backyards before she was arrested by police about a block from the home. Neighbors said that an older woman, possibly a grandmother, also lived in the home.
Arms said that the first patrol officers who arrived at the home carried two of the children outside. He said there was heavy smoke in the home, but when officers arrived, “it was no longer an active fire.”
The four children — three boys ages 9, 8 and 5, and a 3-year-old girl — were all in critical condition at Denver Children’s Hospital.
On Tuesday morning, an accelerant-sniffing dog from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation searched the home. A Ford Windstar van and a Cadillac were towed from the scene
Kyle Dennison, a neighbor, said he heard a woman scream Monday night.
“Police officers, fire department people — whoever could run in as fast as they could, they were just carrying kids out and getting them to a safe zone, which was the ambulance,” Dennison said. “Some of them just looked lifeless, like they weren’t even responsive. The other one was screaming for his mom, trying to understand the situation, very hysterical.”
Saving all but one
The 16-month-old girl, “she didn’t even make it out of the house. I watched all the kids as they got carried out. We saw all the big ones, there were no babies. I heard the fireman say, there’s still a 1-year-old, and that’s all we heard. We never saw her come out,” Dennison said.
Roger Weidner, another neighbor, said police officers with flashlights searched the backyards behind the family’s raised ranch-style home, which they had rented for less than a year.
Before the father’s suicide
Weidner said he remembered seeing the children playing in the backyard, where there was a swing set and a few trees.
“They had a good time. They were enjoying themselves,” Weidner said. . . . “They were hanging on branches and playing with the ball — just enjoying themselves. Yes, we heard them, but you would expect to.”
Dennison said he saw the children playing outside a lot more often before their father died.
“After that, they kind of were withdrawn inside the house,” he said. “Even like around Christmas time, the mom had strict rules for the kids. They were allowed to come to the corner, but that was it. They were polite, courteous kids. The kids were awesome.”
Erin Emery: 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com
