Sabrina Dunigan was charged with all the deaths of her children on the morning of her 34th Birthday.
After five of her five children were killed in an apartment fire, in August, a mother in Illinois was charged with five counts each of endangering the health or life of a child.
It happened on Sabrina Dunigan's 34th birthday.
This undated photo shows Sabrina Dunigan and two of her five children. Dunigan is facing charges for the deaths all of the children, aged between 2 and 9, who died after their apartment caught on fire. (Photo: Screenshot/KSDK).
Loy-el and Jabari Dunigan were 2 and 4 years old respectively. The 8-year-old twins Heaven and Neveah Veah Duganigan and Deontae Davis, 9 years, died when their East St. Louis home was set on fire at 3 AM on August 6. According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, authorities claim that their mother, Sabrina Dunigan left the children alone.
Greg Dunigan, Dunigan's father, claimed that Dunigan and his wife lived in the same apartment. Although the eight-member family had been sharing a one-bedroom apartment, Mr. Dunigan and his spouse remained in separate areas at the rear.
East St. Louis mother charged in connection with fire that killed her five children https://t.co/lbYVCNzmdY pic.twitter.com/Low3elL1xY Robert Cohen (@kodacohen) November 4, 2021
He claimed that his wife, who was blind, was supposed to watch the children while his daughter went outside, but that they fell asleep. Although they managed to escape from the apartment's second floor, they could not save their children from the flames.
Sabrina Dunigan went out to pick her boyfriend up from work. She returned to her apartment to find it ablaze. She reportedly suffered burns as she attempted to save her children. The incident resulted in four deaths and Nevaeh was later pronounced dead at a St. Louis hospital.
Her dad asked The Post-Dispatch: "Why are they trying to do that to her?" She has already lost everything she can. They want to take everything away from her, which is also what she means by herself. She doesn't have anything left.
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Sabrina Dunigan, a former boyfriend, shared with The Post-Dispatch that her home had caught fire. She claimed she believed her ex-boyfriend started the fire that left no one hurt. She does not believe that arson was involved in the August fires that claimed the lives of her children.
Prosecutors in St. Clair County allege that Sabrina caused or permitted a child's death or serious injury by her actions.
Illinois's misdemeanor law makes endangering the health or life of a child a misdemeanor. This is except if it is a person's second offense or if a child has died after being placed in danger. Sabrina Dunigan has been charged with five felonies following the deaths of five of her children. Each count can lead to a sentence of between 2 and 10 years imprisonment. A parent who is charged with the death of their child may also be sentenced to probation, just like in her case.
Investigators are still investigating the cause of August's fatal fire in East St. Louis (IL), which is only eight minutes from St. Louis.
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TheGrio's first article, Illinois mom arrested after five of her children are killed in a house fire, appeared first on TheGrio.
