PHILADELPHIA, PA - Authorities have said that two people are now facing charges for their alleged connection to a deadly house fire that took the lives of two children and their pregnant mother.
The two alleged suspects, 67-year-old Charles Sumpter and 44-year-old Fleitte Newell, were taken into custody on Wednesday, June 25th, and have been charged with murder and other related offenses, FOX29 reported.
They were arrested at a property in Strawberry Mansion.
Firefighters were called to a property on the 2500 block of North Corlies Street just before 5:00 a.m. on June 13 for reports of a house fire.
Five people were inside the home at the time of the fire, including three children and two adults.
Authorities said that four-year-old Alaya Thompson and six-year-old Assad Thompson-Newell were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Their mother, 32-year-old Ashley Thompson, who was eight-months pregnant, was also pronounced dead at the scene of the fire.
Police said a two-year-old and a 54-year-old woman were rescued from the fire and remain in stable condition.
Police said that the oldest survivor, a 54-year-old grandmother who leaped out the window with the two-year-old in her arms, is the sister of the woman charged with murder.
Newell is believed to have been battling over inheriting the rowhouse, police said.
The victim told People Magazine that she had been arguing with Newell over the house for a year. She alleged that the suspect previously threatened to "burn the house with her in it."
Sumpter and Newell were interviewed on the day of the fire, but were not arrested until they were served with a warrant.
A GoFundMe page has been set up, and describes Ashley Thompson as a "loving mother, daughter, and friend."
When officials arrived on scene, they said the home was fully engulfed in flames, 6ABC reported.
"It was a tragedy man, them kids didn't have to die, and that pregnant lady didn't have to die," said Ronald Parker of Strawberry Mansion.
