Jun 21, 2007 7:50 pm US/Eastern
Mother Of Fire Victims Arraigned, Released On Bail
Officials have filed multiple charges against the mothers of the five children who died in last week's Winslow Street house fire in the city's Larimer section.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
The mother of three of the children who died in last week's Larimer house fire was arraigned in court on multiple charges this morning, while the other mother is still awaiting arraignment.
Officials say Shakita Mangham surrendered to police earlier this morning, was arraigned and released on $10,000 bond.
Mangham is the mother of Daekia, Dezekiah and Cedano Holyfield. All three died in that fire.
Meanwhile, the mother of the other two children, Furaha Love, has also surrendered to police.
Pittsburgh police filed multiple charges against the mothers on Wednesday.
Mangham and Love are both facing five counts of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of endangering the welfare of children, two counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of false reports.
Love lost two of her sons, Andre and Azquel Rankin, in the blaze on Winslow Street.
Police say that Mangham lied to investigators when she told them a 17-year-old babysitter was looking after all of the children.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala visited the scene of the house fire on Wednesday.
"These kids by all indication were left home alone with two 8-year-olds and that's not acceptable conduct in this community," Zappala said.
He did not recommend charges against the 8-year-old boys, who are believed to have started the fire.
According to Pennsylvania law, children under the age of 10 cannot be charged with murder.
Stay with KDKA for the latest developments in this story.
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