A young mother, three of her children and an unidentified adult male perished Thursday in a trailer fire off Highway 75 in Flat Rock, Ala., near the Dade County line. The matter is currently under investigation by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, which by the weekend had identified four of the five fatalities.
The names of the confirmed victims are: Kayla Jackson, 26, and her children Kaylon Stotts, 4, Jaycee Stotts, 3, and Harley Stotts, 18 months.
Aiding in the investigation are the Alabama Fire Marshalls and Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensic Sciences.
Cartersville, Henagar, and the Tri-Community Fire Departments all responded to the scene after a 911 call. DeKalb County Sheriff's deputies and the Ider Police Department also responded to assist. The trailer was fully involved when firefighters arrived on scene, and firefighter found the five bodies while battling the blaze. The remains were transported to thes Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Huntsville for autopsy.
Autopsy began Friday and will resume Monday to identify the last victim, an adult male.
WHNT News 19 in Alabama reported that Kayla Jackson had gotten a protection order two weeks ago on a former boyfriend, with whom she had a total of five children, and who she told court authorities did not want to pay child support and had threatened to kill her and burn down her home. The DeKalb Sheriff's Office, however, has so far released no information as to the cause of the fire.
DeKalb Sheriff Nick Welden asked for patience and prayers in the tragedy. "When such a great loss of life occurs, we must be thorough in handling the aftermath," he said in a release Friday. "We owe it to this family to provide answers, especially when children are lost. We'll update with more information as the investigation progresses."
