DeKalb County

Mother and child escape after man sets apartment on fire, grandmother says

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother and child escaped after a man set their apartment on fire, family members told Channel 2 Action News.

Fire officials told Channel 2′s Steve Gelbach that crews were called to extinguish a fire at the Creekside Corners Apartment Homes on Fairington Parkway in Lithonia.

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Officials added that they also received reports of possible entrapment of a child.

When crews arrived, they entered a lower-level apartment where they found a man who was dead.

Fire officials confirmed that the child and her mother were OK.

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On Channel 2 Action News This Morning, Gehlbach spoke with Demeterius Smith, whose daughter is the woman who escaped.

Smith said her daughter told her the man set the apartment on fire, prompting her and the child to escape.

Smith said her daughter told her when she got outside of the burning apartment, the man went onto the balcony and begged her to come back inside with the child. When she refused, he went back inside.

The man’s identity has not been released.

No other apartments were damaged during the incident. The investigation remains ongoing.

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