'Suspicious' South Side Blaze Kills Mom, 8-Year-Old Boy
CHICAGO (STMW) -- An 8-year-old boy gravely wounded in a "suspicious" fire that killed his mother early Saturday has died.
Millicent Brown-Johnson, 28, and her son Jovany Perkins both died from injuries suffered during the extra-alarm blaze that erupted about 1:45 a.m. in their three-unit apartment building, authorities said.
The fire is considered "suspicious," said Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford, who added that the Chicago Police Bomb and Arson Unit is investigating.
Arson is a possible cause of the fire, though no official determination has been announced yet, police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala said Saturday night.
When firefighters arrived at the building in the 11200 block of South King Drive, they found flames burning on the top two floors of the building and heavy fire in a stairwell, the fire department said.
Brown-Johnson was in cardiac arrest when paramedics took her to Roseland Community Hospital, the fire department said. She died at 3:09 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The 8-year-old boy was in cardiac arrest when paramedics took him to Comer Children's Hospital with second- and third-degree burns and smoke inhalation, Langford said.
He was then transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 11:15 p.m. Saturday, the medical examiner's office said.
A firefighter injured at the blaze was taken to Roseland Community Hospital with a minor laceration to the face, police said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
