Man Arrested for Triple Fatal Ind. Blaze

March 18, 2014
The fire killed a toddler and two adults in Evansville, Ind.

March 18-- Evansville police arrested 31-year-old Christopher Compton late Monday evening in connection with the fatal fire that killed a toddler and two adults and injured eight others on West Franklin Street Monday.

Compton is preliminarily charged with three counts of murder and four counts of arson with injury, both Class A felonies.

He is currently lodged without bond at Vanderburgh County Jail. An initial court appearance has not been set.

The names or ages of those killed or injured in the fire at 29 W. Franklin St. were not released Monday evening.

Four of the injured were residents at the two-story house, which had been converted to five apartments. All were taken initially to nearby Deaconess Hospital, and two were transported later in the evening by Life Flight to the Wishard Memorial Hospital Burn Center in Indianapolis. One of the injured residents was treated and released Monday evening.

According to Cullum, the three who remain hospitalized are expected to survive.

The other four injured were Evansville firefighters who suffered minor burns as they made an "aggressive interior attack" to bring the fire under control, according to Evansville Fire Department spokesman Bruce Woodward.

The fire was concentrated in the second floor of the wood-frame building. The three deceased were found in one of the two upstairs apartments.

Vanderburgh County Deputy Coroner Steve Lockyear said positive identification of the three killed may require the use of dental records, fingerprinting or DNA to confirm. Autopsies are scheduled for noon Tuesday.

"This is such a tragic situation," Lockyear said.

The four residents who were injured reportedly jumped from a second-floor window to the ground to escape the rapidly spreading fire and thick smoke.

One of the unidentified residents who jumped appeared to have broken his leg in the fall. Evansville police officer Nathan Hassler used a knife to cut the pants off the man as he lay screaming in pain on the ground across the street from the home as it burned.

The parking lot across from the home was at first filled with curious onlookers and neighbors, but police corralled them back. Later, the parking lot became a scene of mourning, where friends and family openly grieved their lost loved ones.

Vanderburgh County Deputy Sheriff Mike Robinson and Animal Control officers were the first officials to arrive on the scene. Cullum said the men attempted to enter the residence because they knew people were inside, but were driven back by the intensity of the fire.

When they arrived on scene around 4:30 p.m., Evansville firefighters were met with a fully-engulfed house fire. Within 30 minutes, firefighters had the blaze under control.

While the investigation into the fire is ongoing, police do not expect anymore arrests in connection with the blaze, according to Sgt. Jason Cullum.

Police detained Compton, who was reportedly seen leaving the scene of the fire, within a quarter-mile of the home near Heidelbach Avenue and Illinois Street. He was taken to the police department Downtown, where he was interviewed by detectives. He was arrested shortly before midnight Monday.

A handgun was also found near the alleyway behind the home, though, investigators believe the firearm was not connected with the incident.

Last week, Compton was reportedly cut by 22-year-old Jacob Cobb. The wound, a four inch cut on the right side of Compton's head, required "several staples" at Deaconess Hospital, according to police. He told police Cobb swung the knife at him during an argument at Cobb's residence on the 200 block of Michigan Street.

The cutting incident and Monday's fire are not connected, according to police.

Rodney Smithhart, an Evansville cabdriver who said he's lived alone at the address for over 12 years, said he wasn't home when the fire started.

"I usually sleep during the day ... if it wasn't for a doctor's appointment, I could've been home," Smithhart said as he looked on with his mother Janice.

Leonard Shorty, who also lives at the address in a separate apartment in the rear of the building, wanted to get back in his residence but was told he probably wouldn't be allowed in until tomorrow.

The American Red Cross was available for people displaced by the fire.

Copyright 2014 - Evansville Courier & Press, Ind.

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