DUSON, La. — Authorities have charged a 28-year-old man with murder after a fire, believed to be intentionally set, swept through a Duson apartment complex early Sunday morning, killing a 9-year-old girl and leaving two others in critical condition.
Kelden Charles, a neighbor of the Barracks Street four-plex, recounted the frantic moments as he and others rushed to respond after realizing a child was trapped inside.
“After what she was saying, she was saying that her baby was in there, it just, it was automatically go,” Charles said.
Charles explained that a DoorDash delivery driver — who happened to be a former firefighter — alerted him to the blaze.
“Then I ran in my house and I went to get my fire extinguisher,” Charles said.
Multiple 911 calls were placed as the fire spread, including reports that someone was trapped inside the burning unit. The girl’s mother and another man were hospitalized and remain in critical condition, according to officials.
“The mother, of course, she was really losing it. She was in the middle of the road, she was like, ‘Y’all, please y’all, y’all please go help my baby. Y’all go save my baby,’” Charles said.
Despite repeated attempts to reach the child, neighbors were unable to breach the flames.
“We ran through the back door, but by the time we had got up the stairs, we couldn't open the door, so the inside, everything just fell from the inside of the room where the baby was,” Charles recalled.
Firefighters ultimately discovered the 9-year-old girl in an upstairs bedroom after extinguishing the blaze — a memory that continues to haunt those who tried to help.
“All I hear is her saying, ‘Y'all go save my baby, y'all go save my baby,’ that's all I hear right now,” Charles said.
The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office arrested Julian Jacob after detectives determined he was responsible for setting the deadly fire.
The investigation is ongoing as the community mourns the loss and neighbors reflect on a tragedy that struck painfully close to home.
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