Oct. 02--As Scranton patrolman Eric Lindsay pulled up to the fully engulfed fire, he could hear the screams of a child.
He saw Tyaisha Leary pacing on the roof of her West Scranton home with her 12-year-old son Nijea by her side.
"My babies, my babies," she screamed.
Patrolman Lindsay was one of five first responders who testified Monday during the bench trial of Scranton resident William Robert Woods. Woods, 43, is accused of setting the July 21, 2009 fire at his ex-girlfriend's 166 S. Hyde Park Ave. home and killing her two sons, 9-year-old Taevon and 10-year-old Michael Miles. Woods faces 24 counts, including first- and second-degree murder and arson. If convicted, Woods could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The non-jury trial, before Lackawanna County President Judge Thomas J. Munley, is expected to last all week.
Dressed in a white collared dress shirt and black slacks, Woods sat expressionless as other first responders described how they searched through thick smoke and flames for Taevon and Michael.
Taevon's lifeless body was found beneath the windowsill in an upstairs bedroom, testified city firefighter Chris Kohut.
City firefighter John Hubert recalled he had to use his hands to feel his way around the home because the thick smoke blinded him. He had to stoop down and nearly crawl because of the intense heat, he testified.
"The fire just came at us," Hubert said.
After making it up a stairwell and into another bedroom with a set of bunk beds, he said he found Michael laying on the lower bunk bed. He put Michael over his shoulder and ran down the stairs, holding his breathe because of the intensity of the blaze.
Michael was flown to the Lehigh Valley Burn Center in Allentown and died hours later.
Both boys were severely burned. Leary and her son, Nijea, who were rescued from the roof, were treated for smoke inhalation.
Leary, who sat in the courtroom with family Monday, is expected to testify today. She declined to comment outside the courtroom.
Wrapping up Monday's testimony, Dunmore state police Deputy Fire Marshal Russell Andress testified that investigators found evidence of an accelerant inside the home, near a dining room. District Attorney Andy Jarbola, who is prosecuting the case, said investigators believe Woods used lighter fluid to set the fire.
Woods remains jailed at the Lackawanna County Prison.
He was previously sentenced in October 2009 to 17 to 36 months in state prison -- while the arson investigation continued -- for threatening to kill Leary. He allegedly made a jailhouse confession, telling his cellmate: "I did set the fire, but I didn't mean for the kids to get hurt," according to testimony at his preliminary hearing.
In the weeks leading up to the blaze, Woods slashed the tires of her vehicle and cut the power cords to her home appliances, investigators have said.
When he slashed her tires, he violated a protection-from-abuse order she had against him.
Copyright 2012 - The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
