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A 15-year-old boy has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to his Georgia home, and killing his 10-year-old sister in the process.
Zoe McCue, 10, was found dead trapped inside her windowless bedroom after a fire broke out at her family’s single-story Beaver Road home in Loganville shortly before 5am on Sunday.
Gwinnett County firefighters have since said they believe the fire was intentionally set, and police are now investigating the girl’s death as a homicide.
They have already arrested the girl’s 15-year-old brother – who has not been named as he is a minor – in connection with the fire after he was found safe from the fire at another location hours later.
Charges against the boy are pending, as police and fire department officials continue to investigate the devastating fire, which destroyed the McCue family’s home and also killed their two cats.
Zoe McCue (pictured) was found dead inside her Georgia home after a fire broke out at around 5am on Sunday. Authorities have now arrested her 15-year-old brother in connection with the fire, which they believe was set intentionally
Gwinnett County firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire in Loganville to find it engulfed in flames
The house suffered extensive damage throughout its front half and the attic
Gwinnett County firefighters arrived on the scene of the single-story home shortly before 5am on Easter Sunday to discover it engulfed in heavy flames.
‘Once our crews arrived on [the] scene, we had heavy fire involvement throughout the entire front of the structure, Lt. Justin Wilson told FOX 5. ‘It was just hidden away from a small wood line.’
A mother of five and two of her children had already escaped the home before fire crews arrived, officials told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while the father and a teenage sibling were at work when the fire broke out.
But fire department officials were soon told that two children – a 15-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl – were believed to have been stuck inside the home.
‘Multiple aggressive search attempts were executed to locate the missing children,’ Wilson said in a statement, adding: ‘After the fire was brought under control, a 10-year-old female victim was located deceased in [a] room used as a bedroom without window access.’
Firefighters then continued to sift through the debris for hours looking for the boy, before he was found safe at around 9am at another location. He did not appear to have any injuries, officials report.
That boy, who has not been named as he is a minor, was arrested just a few hours later after officials said they determined the fire was intentionally set – but no charges against him have been announced and a motive is not yet known.
Family members have said smoke alarms were installed throughout the home, but did not activate when the fire began.
‘At this time, it has been determined the fire was set intentionally by a sibling of the deceased victim,’ a police spokesperson said, adding: ‘This is still an active investigation and is being treated as a homicide.
‘Gwinnett police detectives are working closely with arson investigators throughout the duration of this investigation.’
William McCue, the girl’s father who was at work when the fire broke out, told FOX 5 News that Zoe liked to be in charge
William McCue, the patriarch of the family, was at work at the local Waffle House with his teenage daughter at the time of the fire when a coworker broke the news to him.
‘I went over to her, and she told me I had to go home, there was a fire,’ he recounted to FOX 5. ‘I tried to get a hold of my wife, and she answered the phone and said “Come home.”
When he arrived, he said he saw the devastation, with their family home suffering from extensive damage throughout its front half and the attic.
He remembered Zoe as a young leader.
‘She kind of like takes the lead and be in charge,’ he told the news station. ‘She’s a handful of a 10-year-old and wants to be the boss of everybody. That’s little Zoe.’
A GoFundMe has now been set up for the family to rebuild and pay for Zoe’s funeral, as the family and their two dogs receive help from the Gwinnett County police chaplains and American Red Cross.
But William said the family really needs ‘prayers, love and support. That’s what I ask for.
‘We’ve got a wonderful community, and I thank God for the type of people who are out here.’
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