Toddler dies from apartment fire after being left alone with baby brother, CA cops say
A toddler died from an apartment fire after being left alone with her baby brother, California officials said.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department responded to 911 calls about black smoke coming from a Trona apartment unit on Jan. 16, the department said in a Facebook post.
Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the apartment in a four-unit complex, the fire department said.
As they were setting up, firefighters “found two small children who had been pulled from the smoke-filled apartment” before they arrived, the fire department said.
Both children had stopped breathing, and first responders started performing CPR, according to the fire department.
Firefighters worked to put out the fire, while also checking the apartment for additional victims, the department said. They doused the fire within 15 minutes but didn’t find anyone else inside the apartment.
The two young children were taken to a hospital, the fire department said.
Catalena Fusaro, 2, was pronounced dead “a short time later,” while her 11-month-old brother “remains in critical condition,” according to a Jan. 17 news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office.
The children’s mother, Nikia Rain Magby, 26, was arrested and booked into jail on counts of murder and child abuse causing great bodily injury after detectives learned she had left the children home alone before the fire, according to the sheriff’s office.
The fire remains under investigation, the fire department said.
Trona is located in Searles Valley about 170 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Toddler dies from apartment fire after being left alone with baby brother, CA cops say."
