GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A man who made it out of a house fire that killed his entire family will not face charges.
Channel 2's Tony Thomas was the first news reporter to break the news Friday morning.
District Attorney Danny Porter said he can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the fire that destroyed the home was intentionally set.
In the late hours of Feb. 9, 2016, flames tore through the home on Pointer Ridge in Tucker. Brent Patterson escaped the fire, but his wife Kathy and their two daughters did not.
While authorities still have their suspicions about the fire, they said they can't prove it in court and they are ending the investigation.
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He said one expert believed that it was and another said Patterson's explanation was unlikely, but possible.
“Because of the destruction, we can't tell, for instance, that a pot might have been left on the stove and overheated and exploded,” Porter said. “It all comes down to whether or not the fire could have begun the way Patterson described it.
“There's the part of me that wants to find the truth, would say I wanted to go through, but the part of me that stands behind this desk and has to make legal decisions, recognized that I couldn’t."
Patterson has not returned Thomas’ emails or messages to him and neither has his attorney.
Prosecutors said the case is now closed, unless someone comes forward proving to them this was not an accident.